Before I Let You Go
by DarkVampireFae
Summary: From the start Lucy had been against hiding their relationship from everyone else, but dealt with it because of her feelings for Gajeel. Now four months into it she is having doubts about his intentions and their relationship. Inspired by the song Before I Let You Go by Colbie Caillat.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey all! I've been listening to this song non-stop and had to write out this story. It will either be a two-shot or three-shot, I haven't decided yet. **

**I hope you like it. =]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the songs; Before I Let You Go - Colbie Caillat and Like Yesterday - Colbie Caillat. I also do not own Fairy Tail. :'( **

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It was a normal day at the guild with everyone talking loudly and the occasional chair flying overhead. Team Natsu and I had just returned from a week long job and were sitting down at our usual table. Natsu, as always, was recounting every battle that occurred, at some points he and Gray even reenacted it, although I'm sure that wasn't part of the plan. I knew they were trying to get me to join in but I was too busy looking around the guild for Gajeel. He knew I'd be returning today so I was sad to see that he wasn't here to greet me.

Although no one knew it, we had been dating for the past four months. It was his idea to keep our relationship hidden because he knew that Levy had some romantic feeling towards him and didn't want to hurt her feelings. I had told him I was against hiding it but he refused to listen to me. Levy and I had, had this discussion many times before, we knew that we both had feelings for Gajeel and had agreed that if he decided to date one of us then the other would not be upset. Even after hearing that something still held him back from telling her.

It wasn't fair. They were able to sit next to each other, talk and go on jobs together but I wasn't. I had to remain with my team, acting as if I didn't have this huge secret on my shoulders. Outside of the guild we were fine in the beginning, but after the first two months I could tell something had changed. Since we were keeping it a secret form everyone we had to either go to his house or the neighboring towns to avoid being seen. But that didn't bother me at first because Gajeel always made it into an adventure; every date was different.

Once we spent the entire day at one of his favorite spots. It was a secluded cliff overlooking a lake, it was beautiful. He had thought of everything. Food enough for the day was in his backpack, along with blankets, towels, our swimsuits and rope. When he pulled out the rope I balked and froze, he just chuckled and proceeded to make a pole that reached over the cliff and tied the rope to it. After that near panic attack, I had another one soon after when he told me to swing off of the 40 foot cliff into the water below. I refused and even tried to run away to avoid it, but unsurprisingly he had caught me quickly, encircling his arms around my waist. Scared out of my mind I grabbed on to the nearest tree and held on for dear life. He was shocked when he found he couldn't pry my arms from around it so he resorted to tickling me, I held on as long as I could before my laughter burst from me with a snort to follow. Horrified I covered my mouth hoping he hadn't heard, but by his laughter I knew he had. The next thing I know I was in his arms again being brought to the dreadful rope.

Giving me no time to prepare myself he grabbed a hold of it with the arm that wasn't holding me and took a running leap. We swung twice before he was sure we were clear of the cliff and let go. Expectantly I was screaming my head off as we fell but was silenced by Gajeel's mouth descending on mine. As he planned it shut me up, but I was too shocked to respond. Just as I was about to respond Gajeel pulled away from me and pushed me away from him with a laugh right before we hit the water.

That had been our first kiss.

I tried to remember that day every time I questioned our relationship, but it had stopped working lately. Instead of the guild being a place of peace for me it had become torture, to the point where I began avoiding it all together.

This morning when we were on the train home I had come to the conclusion, with the help of my spirits that I had to let Gajeel go. No matter how much I cared for him and wanted to be with him this daily torture wasn't right. It was as if Gajeel couldn't choose between the two of us, as if I wasn't enough for him and it was killing me.

Seeing the guild doors open from the corner of my eye I turned towards it to watch as Levy, Jet, Droy and Gajeel entered the building. I saw the object of my desires glance my way but all he did was nod before he went back to talking to his companions. Being so easily dismissed after a week away from him only strengthened my resolve, _I can't deal with this anymore_.

"Lucy! Where are you going?" Natsu yelled before he got distracted by Gray's fist. Ignoring everyone and their questions about why I was leaving after only being there for a few minutes, I slammed through the doors and took a deep breath of the fresh night air. Releasing it I started walking towards what had become my solace these past two months.

"Hime are you alright?" Virgo said as she fell into step beside me.

"I'm tired Virgo. How long have Gajeel and I been together? You would think after four months he'd want to tell everyone or at least stop letting Levy cling to him and control him. It's ridiculous really when she started going out with Jet I thought this would stop; he keeps telling me things will change but they never do. Every time we're at the guild I have to watch him with her, I can't take it anymore." I said barely holding back the tears that were building up.

I hadn't even realized we had stopped walking until Virgo took me into her arms to comfort me. We stood there for only a couple of minutes but her soothing words did their magic and I was able to pull myself together. It had been awhile since I was able to talk freely about the situation. I was truly blessed to have such great spirits, they had been my rocks these past months.

Wiping off the last remnants of my tearful breakdown I gave her a hug and started walking again. We didn't speak as we headed to the edge of town, just having her here was enough for me and she knew that. Once we got to my destination I turned to her and gave her another hug, this time I was able to refrain from getting her shoulder wet. "You can go back now Virgo, thanks for everything" my words were mumbled by her shoulder.

Before she spoke I felt her arms tighten around me as if she didn't' want to leave me alone but she knew me well enough to know that if she stayed I'd break down again and I didn't want that. Looking up at her face I saw her give me a little smile before she backed away. "If you're sure Hime, I'll be just a call away." She said as she bowed before she disappeared.

As I entered 'Jack's Bar and Lounge' I felt all of my troubles wash away like they always did when I came here.

I had found this place on a day similar to this when I had been upset by Gajeel and Levy. It had been surprisingly devoid of people for a Friday night. The only person who had been there was the bar tender and owner, Jack, who looked shocked to see someone in his bar. I had made a beeline to the closest stool and ordered his strongest drink. One drink led to another and I wound up telling him all of my life story and all of my relationship problems. When I had stopped talking my head had met the counter and almost immediately I had started crying on it with him reaching over to awkwardly pat my back.

By some miracle I had been able to stumble home and pass out to live another day. When I had woken up my head felt like Taurus was repeatedly hitting my skull with his axe. It took me double the time it usually took to get ready because I was hindered by my nausea and headache. When I was finally presentable I decided that it would be in my best interest to not go to the guild. Having nowhere else to go I made my way to the bar I vaguely remembered, surprised to see that Jack was the only person there again.

The first thing I noticed besides Jack was the most beautiful dark brown grand piano hidden at the corner of the stage. As if my feet had a mind of its own I went to it and admired it, running my hand over the keys and bench. "Do you mind?" I said nodding towards the piano.

"Go ahead, my wife was the only one to use it and she hasn't been around for some time."

**I remember like yesterday I ****  
****Carried a heart without hope****  
****Had given up on mystery I ****  
****Only saw mirrors and smoke ****  
****Thought I was fine alone ****  
****That's just because I didn't know**

**I remember like yesterday****  
****Lovin you seemed far away ****  
****We were friends in different places ****  
****Then love began leavin traces****  
****Sitting with u on a crowded bus****  
****It seemed like just the 2 of us****  
****That night everything was changed**

Within moments I had gotten lost in the music playing song after song while singing along. After five songs I felt how parched my mouth was and stopped. When I had looked up I was surprised to see the place half full with Jack running around from one end of the bar to the next. Standing up I felt myself blushing as I heard all of them clapping. Doing an awkward bow and little wave I hurried off of the stage to an empty bar stool, where I hid my face in my arms as I leaned down.

"Hey Lucy, can I speak with you in the office?" Nodding in response to Jack I slowly stood up and followed him to the back. _Great he's probably upset… _

"I'm sorry –"

"Sorry? For what, bringing in the most people I have seen since my wife left me?! No I brought you back here because I wanted to thank you and ask if you'd be willing to play here regularly."

After that day I had been coming here anytime I wasn't on a mission. It was hard at first slipping away from the guild but I learned to time it with Natsu's fights. "Hey Lucy you I thought you weren't going to be in tonight. Don't you want to rest after your mission?"

Walking up to the stage I started arranging things the way I liked and unpacked my music preparing for the night ahead. "We got back this morning… I hadn't planned on coming in but I just needed to get away, you know? I have some new stuff I've been working on that I finally finished. I was going to play it tonight if that's alright with you; I think you'll like it."

"You know I love anything you play. Since our agreement I've had so much more business that I feel like I should be paying you for your performances. That way when the big wigs come asking for you, you won't leave me quite as fast." Although he said it with a laugh I could tell that he actually thought I'd leave and never come back. Hoping down from the platform I walked up to him and placed my hands on his shoulders, making sure I had his full attention.

"You've been nothing but kind to me. Not only do you let me borrow your piano to practice but when I'm low on rent because of my team you always let me balance your books to earn some extra cash. I'm fine with our agreement and don't plan on changing it anytime soon. Plus all the big wigs live outside of Magnolia, I couldn't leave my family and friends at Fairy Tail. I definitely couldn't leave you either, imagine what your books would look like if I did." At that we both laughed remembering how chaotic his office and books had been before we had come to the agreement. "Now are you gonna just stand there and think about the what ifs or are you gonna prepare the bar for another full house?"

Within an hour of my arrival people started pouring in to order drinks and get a table for the show. _Two months ago all of these people would have made me nervous instead of excited._ Shaking my head at the thought I looked at Jack and nodded to tell him I was ready.

Looking back at the audience I sat down at the piano and began playing, putting everything I had into it.

**Boy I see you lookin' over**  
**You keep on looking back at what you knew**  
**When will you come closer**  
**Closer to the one that's good for you**

**Cause you're still goin' back to that life**  
**And I refuse to stand on the side**  
**By sparing her from heartache**  
**Don't you know you end up hurting me**

**I see your head spinning right around**  
**She makes you fall hard and hit the ground**  
**When you ever gonna let her go**  
**I see the way that she breaks you so**  
**All I'm asking is for you please**  
**To take control and be set free**  
**Make the space so we can grow**  
**Save us before I let you go**

**So you say this will get better**  
**Better for you, her, or me?**  
**Well I don't know what to tell ya**  
**It's not my fault that I don't believe**

**Cause you're still so stuck in that life**  
**And I refuse to stay on this ride**  
**Cause we're goin' round in circles**  
**Aren't you tired of never having peace**

**I see your head spinning right around**  
**She makes you fall hard and hit the ground**  
**When you ever gonna let her go**  
**I see the way that she breaks you so**  
**All I'm asking is for you please**  
**To take control and be set free**  
**Make the space so we can grow**  
**Save us before I let you go**

**I have been waiting**  
**For you to change this**  
**But it has taken too long**  
**So I can't keep waiting**  
**I've got to change this**  
**It's hard for me to have to be so strong**

**I see your head spinning right around**  
**She makes you fall hard and hit the ground**  
**When you ever gonna let her go**  
**I see the way that she breaks you so**  
**All I'm asking is for you please**  
**To take control and be set free**  
**Make the space so we can grow**  
**Save us before I let you go**

**I see your head spinning right around**  
**She makes you fall hard and hit the ground**  
**When you ever gonna let her go**  
**I see the way that she breaks you so**  
**All I'm asking is for you please**  
**To take control and be set free**  
**Make the space so we can grow**  
**Save us before I let you go**

**Oh baby I, baby I, baby I, baby I**  
**Don't wanna let you go**  
**I don't wanna let you go**  
**Save us before I let you go**

**Oh baby I, baby I, baby I, baby I**  
**Don't wanna let you go**  
**I don't wanna let you go**  
**Oh no, oh no**  
**No I don't ever wanna let you go...**

As the last cords drifted off I heard everyone clap. Smiling I looked into the crowd. Instantly my smile disappeared when I saw everyone who had been at the guild in the doorway with Natsu in front. Looking at movement to his right I watched as Gajeel walked to the front with a torn look on his face, Levy not too far behind him. When I saw her I turned back to Gajeel and shook my head. Without looking back I left the stage and locked myself in the office. In the distance I could hear Jack telling everyone that, that was it for the night. Sliding down the door I listened as my guild became the new entertainment. Erza, Gray and Mira were yelling something at Gajeel as his growl got closer to the door.

"Bunny let me in." He said in a gentled voice, almost tempting me to do just that. But I heard "Lu-chan?" right after, just as close to the door as Gajeel's voice had been.

"Leave me alone. If you even think about breaking down this door or breaking anything else in the bar I will summon Aquarius to sweep you all away." Hearing protests I yelled "LEAVE!"

Everyone must have heard something in my voice because I could hear as Mira shooed everyone away. "If you need anything Lucy you know where I'll be." She said before she left.

Too tired to respond, let alone move from my spot on the ground, I let myself drift off to sleep, completely unaware of two figures slipping through the window across from me.


	2. Chapter 2

**An: Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait I was having serious doubts about it. I'm still not entirely happy with this chapter, but I'm gonna leave it be. So sorry if there are any mistakes or if you don't like it. **

**I've also decided that the fic will be longer than expected. **

**Enjoy. =] **

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**Gajeel pov**

Slipping through the back window that I assumed led to the room Lucy had locked herself in I stood there for a second, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. Even though it was pitch black I could clearly see everything and was alarmed when I didn't see her right away. But the sound of her rhythmic breathing got rid of my alarm and I moved to walk in the direction of her breathing but was stopped.

"Gajeel I don't think we should be here. She said she wanted everyone to leave her alone, even Mira. She won't be happy to see us." Lily said as he grabbed ahold of my pant leg to stall me.

Ignoring his warning I shook him off my leg, making sure that I didn't hit anything with my leg or him. When I broke free of his unsurprisingly strong grip I made my way towards my sleeping girlfriend. For a moment I watched her sleep, watching as her face scrunched up before she started to toss and turn. Hearing her hit her head twice on the door behind her I gently picked her up freezing at every sound that might indicate she was waking up.

Once I had her fully in my arms she calmed down and snuggled into my chest mumbling something unintelligible. Clearing off the couch with my foot I bent down to set her on it but she wouldn't let go. Each time I removed my arms from her she'd snuggle closer and clench my shirt between her hands.  
"Mmmmm Gajeel... Gotta let you go." She mumbled as she did just that. Staring at her as she turned away from me and snuggled into the back of the couch I was stunned.

"I told you. You should have listened, just as you should have listened to me about the Levy situation and told her everything." Lily whispered as he watched me with his arms crossed. "You've got no one to blame but yourself for the mess you're in." He said as he moved to the chair at the desk to lie down on.

Growling softly I made myself comfortable at the edge of the couch, behind Bunny and carefully wrapped my arm around her. Plunging my nose into her hair I breathed in her scent and whispered to her. "I'm not letting you go Lucy, no matter what."

**Lucy POV**

I woke up to the feeling of being trapped. There was something heavy circling my waist that tightened every time I tried to roll away from the pressure and heat at my back. Putting more effort towards my futile escape I was able to move a couple of inches but wound up rolling face first into another barrier. Cracking my eye open I saw the hideous burnt orange couch I had told Jack to replace or buy a cover for, this thing was stained with Mavis knew what and smelled like the inside of Natsu's house. Pushing myself away from the back of the offending couch I hit another wall, except this one was rock hard unlike the other.

"Urg…go back to sleep Bunny." The wall said as it brought me closer. Following the arm that was restraining me to its owner I turned to face him and pushed with my hands and feet as hard as I could until I was free; when Gajeel slammed into the floor below I didn't feel any remorse.

"What the hell Gajeel? What part of leave didn't you understand!?" I yelled as I simultaneously scrambled over the back of the couch to get further away from him. Moving closer to the desk that was by the door I jumped when I heard a voice behind me.

"He didn't understand the 'leave' part Lucy-sama."

"Ahh! What is with Dragon Slayers and their exceeds breaking into wherever I'm sleeping?" Exasperated I threw up my hands and covered my face. "No offense Lily, I know it wasn't your idea to blatantly ignore my wishes and show up here." I said, speaking from behind my hands. "Because of that you can stay, but you have to go Gajeel. I can't deal with you right now."

"Bunny… I just want to talk, to explain-"

"Explain? Explain what, how you've been ignoring me at the guild and spending all of your time there with another girl? Yes please, explain how I have had to keep our relationship a secret from everyone I love. Explain how every date we've had during the past four months you've avoided the topic of Levy and pretended like everything was fine. If you think you can explain all of that along with why I've felt like my heart was being ripped out time and time again, please do." I said as I turned sharply to him and glared at him.

At the end of my rant I could barely see him standing in front of me through the veil of tears that were coming from my eyes. He was just a blurred blob that slowly got bigger as he walked closer to me. For every step he took to me I took one back until my back hit the door and I had nowhere else to go. Fumbling behind my back I tried to find the door handle to unlock it and open the door. When my hand finally met the handle I turned it and had the door open a crack before I felt his hand cover mine and pull the door closed.

Without saying a word he peeled my hand away from the handle while he wiped my tears away with the other. Closing the gap between us he drew me into a hug and squeezed tight. When I felt his arms surround me my reflexes told my arms to surround him instantly and return his hug but I snapped out of it in time to stop myself when I realized what I was doing. "No…" Pushing against him, trying to escape his hold, I felt the tears return at full force. "Gajeel…"

"Bunny?" He said into my hair.

"Get off of me." My voice sounded strange, even to me. I had become lifeless within his arms, not even struggling to be free this time, it was as if something had broken inside of me and my emotions shut off.

Hearing nothing in my voice must have triggered something in him because he released me from the hug but kept hold of my arms as he looked at me. "Bunny, I promise things will change. Just give me another chance, please."

Releasing a sigh I moved out of his reach, glaring when he tried to keep me close, and went to sit at the desk with Lily in my lap. Putting all of my focus on petting Lily I hoped he would get the hint and leave me alone. After a couple of minutes had passed and he had made no move to leave I sighed and glanced at him through my hair and relented. "Explain."

"I'm sorry that I've hurt you, it was never my intention. I don't know why I felt the need to be around her at the guild. It could be that she was the first friend I made in Fairy Tail. Or it could've been that I've secretly known, since she forgave me for beating her, that she had a crush on me and I liked that feeling. At the time I wasn't open to the idea of a relationship with anyone and kept telling myself that I didn't feel the same about her. But after missing out on seven years of our lives I decided to seize the opportunity and asked you out, because I've always liked you since Phantom Lord. But since I hadn't completely resolved my feelings regarding Levy I became confused and unsure. So I guess that's why I didn't want to tell anyone, I still wanted time to think..." As he spoke he came closer to me and stood there as if he waited for me to explode again or show any kind of emotion to what he had said. When I made no move to respond or look at him he knelt down and tried to get a look at my face through my hair. When I saw his hand reach out to push my hair aside I flinched and was glad to see that his hand stopped.

"Damn it Bunny! I didn't mean for things to get this crazy. At first I thought that by going out with you my feelings would naturally resolve themselves but they didn't. A part of me was still drawn to her and I'm sorry. But while you were gone on your mission I couldn't get my mind off of you. I was worried sick that Flame Brain would do something to endanger you and my inner dragon didn't like it.

"And when I heard you sing, and the thought of not being with you just solidified my decision. I love you Bunny and I am willing to do anything to make these past four months up to you, if you'd be willing to stay with me and give me another chance."

Too stunned to recoil when he grabbed my hands and gave me a pleading look I just stared at him in disbelief.

"So let me get this straight, you didn't know who you liked more and instead of being a decent person and deciding before you approached me you decided to lead both of us on. And now after four months of being together you've finally decided. Could it be because Levy smartened up and started dating Jet that you chose me?

"Ughh! You're an idiot. Ha, if you're and idiot then I must be the biggest one of all for falling for it and letting it go on for so long. I cannot believe I actually fell for you and thought that we could work through whatever was holding you back.

"No don't touch me!" I yelled as I scrambled to stand up to move away from him, completely forgetting about Lily who had been on my lap. "How dare you do this to me! To Levy! We both cared for you and wanted nothing else but to see you happy, no matter who you ended up choosing."

Pacing away from him I avoided his hands as he reached for me, "I said don't touch me!"

"Lucy no! I didn't choose you because of Jet. I chose you because I love you. The past four months with you have been amazing. Reminding me of happier times when I was with Metalicana and I want to make more happy memories with you. Do you think you could forgive me and we could move forward? Things will change I promise. We can go tell everyone now and go on missions together."

I had never seen him like this before. All the times we had fought about this before he always seemed remorseful and a little guilty but never panicked. For the first time since I met him Gajeel actually looked afraid; afraid of losing me. But even with this sudden display of new emotions I couldn't forget what he had put me through these past four months. It had been sheer torture. But then again there were some redeeming qualities, enough so that I stayed with him this long. I couldn't just leave him could I?

"Lucy?"

Him calling my name softly jerked me out of my musings. "I… I don't know Gajeel . It's obvious you still have some doubts regarding your feelings. If you didn't you would have told her by now and stopped this entire mess. Even if you claim to have decided about our relationship and are sure that it's me you want to be with, I'm not… Not anymore, not after all of this… I need space and time to think.

"I know it will be hard since we are in the same guild and all so I'm gonna take that mission Mira was telling me about before I left with Team Natsu. I think that while I'm gone you should talk to Levy and really figure out what you're feeling." Giving him a sad look and Lily a quick hug I muttered goodbye and retreated into the bathroom. Sliding down the door once I had locked it I let loose the tears I had been holding in, not bothering to muffle my sobs. Picking myself up off the ground I discarded my clothes and hoped in the shower. I didn't linger long, only long enough for me to wash myself and my hair. I wanted to leave before Team Natsu got to the guild, knowing that they would want to join me on the job, but I really did need to be away from Fairy Tail for a while.

"Hime, I have brought you a change of clothes for the day."

"Thanks Virgo" I said popping my head out from behind the curtain. "Do you mind going to my apartment and packing a couple of bags for job? I will be gone possibly a month, possibly more, depending on how it goes."

"Of course Hime, I'll keep it with me until you reach your destination. Your other travel bag from your last mission is still at the guild. So be sure to get it before you leave."

Once she was gone I hoped out of the shower and got ready to head to the guild. Opening up the door I was glad to see that Gajeel and Lily were gone. Resisting the urge to cry I tidied up a bit for Jack and left. Not in the mood to do my usual routine on the way to the guild, I walked with my head down and waved away all the greetings I got. Stopping when I reached the guild doors I took several deep breaths, praying that Team Nastu hadn't shown up yet.

Pushing the doors open I was relieved when I only saw Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe at the bar talking to Mira animatedly. Walking into the guild I looked around to make sure no one else was here. As I got closer to them I overheard part of their conversation.

"What do you mean she recalled the job? Did she find another team to guard her? Laxus thundered.

"She has completely lost her mind if she thinks any other team is a better fit for the job than Laxus-sama and the Thunder God Tribe." Freed said insulted on behalf of Laxus.

Mira getting flustered tried to interject during all of their complaints but wasn't able to. Always being talked over when she opened her mouth, or being ignored. I could tell she was reaching the limit of her patience for them and was about to transform into her Satan's Soul when she spotted me. "LUCY!" She yelled hoping over the bar and running to me. Looking at me pleadingly she spoke. "please tell me you reconsidered doing that job I was telling you about. Please please please please please! Laxus and his tribe are killing me with all of their complaints about not being able to do the other half of the job."

"Cosplayer is the reason we can't do the job? Can't we find someone else to help if she doesn't want to go?"

"Uh hi? I'm not sure what's happening but Mira I did reconsider and I want to take the mission. But I need you to give me the details quickly so I can avoid my team… never mind." I sighed as I heard them enter the guild.

"Lucy! What mission did you just take and why wouldn't you want us to go with you? We're a team, where you go we go." Natsu said as he came to my side.

"Oh, hey guys. I was just telling Mira that-"

"That she's gonna be gone for a month or two because she is taking a mission with us." Laxus finished as he grabbed a hold of my arm and dragged me away from my team.

Hopelessly looking behind us I saw that my team was being restrained by Laxus' as they tried to follow me. "My bag-"

"Ever grab her bag and let's go."

"But Natsu, Erza ad Gray…"

"Freed take care of her team and meet us at the station in twenty minutes. We need to catch that train if we are going to get to the job on time." Laxus said without slowing down or looking back.

Trying to pull away from the grip he had on my arm I watched as the distance from the guild grew until I could no longer see it. "Laxus what are you doing? I don't know anything about the mission other than the Princess asked for me. Really can you stop pulling me, I can walk on my own.

"Laxus, stop! I am not in the mood for this. Just tell me where we're going."

Abruptly releasing my arm Laxus continued to eat up the pavement. "Princess Hisui requested a team to act as her personal guards as she travels to her wedding location. Along with a team she wanted either you or Yukino to join the team. But when Mira relayed your message to her that you weren't available she contacted Sabertooth and hired one of their teams. Our goal right now is to beat the Sabertooth mages to the capitol so we can take the job instead of them." He briefly paused and dug out a piece of paper form his back pocket. Shoving it into my face he dropped it, expecting me to catch it.

Royal Mission

As a precaution the royal family is requesting the help of an S-class mage and team to provide security for the royal procession as we make way to the neighboring kingdom where the Princess' betrothed resides.

In addition the Princess personally requests that either Lucy Heartfilia or Yukino Aguria joins the team to act as a personal guard and companion on the day of her wedding.

Report to the castle the last day of the month to get briefed and fitted for appropriate attire.

Reward: 2,000,000 jewels per mage

"Oh wow… Mira didn't tell me Hisui was getting married. If I had known I wouldn't have said no, now I feel bad. Now I understand why you were so upset about not getting the mission. That reward would cover two years' worth of rent! But why couldn't you just take Yukino with you?" I asked trying to keep up with Laxus.

"She wanted the team to be from the same guild, well actually her father did. On the off chance that you weren't available the King wanted the Twin Dragon Slayers, God Slayer and Memory Mage to be her personal guards since they are all S-class mages." Ever said keeping pace with Laxus easily, _how does she keep up with him? _Looking at me Ever smiled. "This will give us the chance to get to know you. We've gotten to know the other new mages – Wendy, Gajeel, even Juvia. But you've been hard to get time with."

Steam lining it to the train, I followed Laxus and Ever to a private compartment at the back of the train. It was nicer than the ones Team Natsu could afford, bigger too. Bickslow was already there, sitting by the window where his 'babies' were lined up.

"Haha yeah, Natsu always has a mission he wants to go on, giving us few breaks. But I don't think this is the best time to get to know me, I'm not in the best mood and am going through something right now." I said sitting down opposite of Bickslow and Ever, and next to Laxus. I waited for the inevitable questions, but was saved by them when Freed busted through the door.

"You're team members are monsters!" Freed moaned, looking disheveled and slightly bruised. He threw his bag on the ground at our feet and slumped into the seat next to Ever. "They're contained, my runes will keep them inside the guild for the next five hours, and by then we will be in Crocus."

Grunting Laxus put on his sound pods and closed his eyes. While Ever tended to Freed, ignoring the probing looks from Bickslow I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. Letting my mind run wild with thoughts of Gajeel and Levy.

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**An: Hoped you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought, please and thank you. **

**I was going to individually reply to the reviews like I usually do but I couldn't come up with much sorry! My brain had turned to mush recently and it's not working properly. I appreciate every review, follow, and favorite I receive! **

**So the general consensus is that Gajeel is an ass who Lucy should dump, which she did. Part of me wants to keep them together and have Gajeel do something to gain back her trust and change his ways but I'm having a hard time coming up with a way for him to do that. So we shall see who she ends up with in the end. =/ **


	3. Chapter 3

**An: This fic has decided to get a mind of its own and turn into a longer story than I had planned. But I like how its going so far. Hope you guys do to!**

**Enjoy =]**

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**Lucy POV**

Even though I had only been awake for a couple of hours I was already exhausted. The stress and emotional roller coaster I had been on had worn me out. That along with my decision to end things with Gajeel had sapped all of my energy from me. So I wasn't surprised when I felt my eyelids grow unbearably heavy, barely 30 minutes into the train ride to Crocus. Losing the battle to stay awake my eyes closed allowing my mind to finally shut off and stop thinking about all of the depressing thoughts. Or so I thought.

_Walking along the canal's ledge with Plue, we waved and smiled at everyone who warned us to be careful. When we were a few feet away from the guilds doors I jumped down on the road and held out my hands for Plue to hop into them. With him in my arms I opened the guild doors and yelled my usual cheery greeting. But instead of the usual noise that filled the guild, everyone went silent when they saw me. Everyone one had a similar sympathetic expression on their faces, confused I entered the guild and sat down at the bar. Ignoring everyone's strange behavior I sat with my back to the room and placed Plue on the counter. I watched him do a dance as we waited for Mira to appear from the back so we could order our usual. _

_Hearing a stifled sob I looked up to see Mira looking at me with the same expression as everyone else. When I saw her move to retreat back into the kitchen I leaned over the bar and grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving. _

_"Mira what's wrong with everyone today?" I asked, concerned. _

_As she opened her mouth to answer me the guild doors slammed open and I heard laughter. Smiling at the familiar "gihi" I spun around ready to greet my boyfriend, but I was stopped mid-spin when Mira reversed my hold on her so she was now the one that was gripping my arm. Quizzically arching my eyebrows at her she shook her head and tried to tell me something with her eyes. _

_"Mira I don't know what's bothering you but I promise to help you as soon as I greet Gajeel." I said, prying her fingers from around my arm. _

_Now that I was free to finish my spin I did so, only to wish I had listened to Mira's warning. The sight in front of me wiped the smile off of my face and brought tears to my eyes. I watched as Gajeel and Levy walked into the guild hand in hand, smiling at each other. As if they weren't aware of their audience they closed the gap between them so my Gajeel could lower his lips to hers. _

_"Lucy… Lucy!" _

"LUCY!"

Frantically looking around I was relieved to find that it had just been a dream.

"Lucy, you okay?"

Shifting my head to the side, avoiding Laxus' curious look I nodded my head. Sinking back into my seat I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart somewhat. Remaining like that I waited until I felt Laxus adjust in his seat and until his breathing evened out again. When I heard nothing but deep even breathing from all of my companions I opened one eye to see that the three that were sitting across from me were slumped in their seats and leaning on each other as they slept. Peaking at Laxus I saw that he still had his pods on and had his eyes closed. Assuming he had gone back to sleep I quietly stop up and tip-toed around everyone's sprawled out legs and exited the compartment.

Carefully closing the door behind me I cringed when I heard it squeak the last couple of inches. Once it was closed I looked around for the nearest exit sign and found one a couple of rooms down to the left. Passing the other rooms in the car I understood why Laxus kept his pods on throughout the ride. I heard an assortment of noises with in the few feet it took me to reach the exit. In the room closet to ours there was a family that was arguing rather loudly over their baby's cries. The room next to that one had some seriously loud snoring that put Natsu's and Gray's to shame. The last room, closest to the exit was full of grunting, groaning and moaning, and other thinks I didn't want to overhear. Blushing at all the noises that were coming from that room I ran the rest of the way to the exit and quickly opened and shut the door to the train's balcony.

Grateful that the noise of the train running down the tracks drowned out all noises from within the car I walked out to the railing, with my arms crossed and leaned on it. Enjoying the feel of the wind whipping my hair around my face, dispelling my blush, and the sun on my face, I took in the passing scenery and realized that we were just now passing Clover Town, meaning we had roughly three hours left of our trip. _Great now I can't fall asleep again for fear of returning to that hellish dream._

Resting one hand over my keys I rested my head on the palm of my other arm. _What am I going to do you guys? How can I ever trust him again? What if by giving him another chance he hurts me again? Does he deserve another chance? _ Releasing a long sigh I longed to call out one of them but didn't want to bother them with such trivial matters.

Loke would be happy to know that we had broken up, giving him another opportunity to 'prove that love between a Celesital spirit and its mage conquers all.' And Aquarius, oh Mavis. She was going to rub it in that I couldn't keep a boyfriend for longer than four months when she and Scorpio have been together longer than I've been alive. I could see it now, I'd summon her and she'd look around asking about Gajeel, but then stop and look at me with that smirk and say 'Oh that's right you don't have one anymore.'

Closing my eyes tighter trying to prevent my thoughts from running wild I could feel a headache coming on.

"Lucy?" I heard as the door behind me opened suddenly.

Not wanting to welcome a conversation I didn't turn around as I responded. "Yeah I'm here."

Whoever it was joined me at the railing and nudged my head to get my attention. When I didn't respond after several head taps, he resorted to forcibly grabbing the back of my head and dragging it out of my resting position.

Jerking my head out of his hands I reluctantly looked at him. Per usual he had a scowl on his face and was crossing his arms across his chest. When my eyes met his I swore his expression softened for a second before he resumed his intimidating expression.

"What do you want Laxus? I thought you were sleeping." I said, not in the mood for an interrogation.

He glared at me for several minutes until he spoke up. "We're going on a mission together. If my team and I are supposed to rely on you to protect our backs I need to know that your head is screwed on straight. I'm not asking you to tell me your every thought; I just want to know that when the time comes you'll be able to do your job without being distracted."

I looked at him in disbelief, insulted that he would think I'd put them in danger. "If I didn't think I wasn't ready for a mission I wouldn't have come back to the guild to tell Mira I'd take. I most definitely wouldn't have let you drag me onto this train. Now if you're done insulting me, would you kindly leave me alone." I said, dismissing him by turning my back to him and continuing my perusal of the passing landscape.

When I didn't hear the door open I prayed for patience. "Was there something else?"

His response was to grunt and continue to stand behind me; ignoring my obvious wish to be left alone.

"Look Laxus, I told you earlier that I wasn't in a good mood and that I was going through some things right now. So just give me some space right now and I'll try to return to my normal self."

"Look Lucy, we may not be the best of friends but… you know… if you need someone to talk to I'm here." He said clearing his throat. "We are nakama after all."

The uncomfortable look on his face was laughable. "Hahaha. Have you been practicing that little speech, waiting for the right time to use it?" Seeing his scowl return in full force to his face I gained control of my laughter and apologized. "I'm sorry Laxus, it's just you looked so uncomfortable when you said that. But thank you, I'll keep that in mind for when I'm ready to talk." When he didn't move or say anything I walked up to him and playfully bumped into him. "Really Laxus, thank you; I really appreciate it." I said smiling up at him. "Why don't you go back inside? I want to stay out here for a while longer."

Returning to my previous perch on the railing I expected him to leave as quickly as possible to get away from my moody self. But again, he surprised me by not leaving me alone, when I gave him an out. When he joined me at the rail, I looked at him in shock. Without looking at me he forcibly turned my head to face outwards.

When I turned my head back to face him he sighed. "What? I thought you didn't want to talk."

"I don't." Shrugging I went onto my tiptoes and reached for his sound pods, ignoring his flinch I grabbed them from around his neck and brought them back to his ears and waited to turn them on. Blushing I explained why I had put them on, "didn't want you to hear anything unpleasant." I said quickly turning my head away from him after I switched the power on. _No need for Laxus to suffer while he's out here keeping me company. _

**Gajeel POV**

Leaving Bunny to have some time to think was one of the most difficult things I had to do. But with Lily's incessant nagging when she went to take a shower it was hard not to listen to him. Reluctantly I left with Lily following me. Not wanting to be around people quite yet I headed to my house on the outskirts of town.

"So what's the plan Gajeel?" Lily said as he flew besides me. When I just looked at him with an eyebrow raised he flew closer to me. "Don't give me that look. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't be content with giving her space."

"Tch. Nosey exceed. The plan is that I'm going to shower, and then I'll head to the guild and follow her on whatever mission she takes."

"She's not going to be happy to have you follow her, you know."

"I don't care at this moment, if I give her the space she wants that lion of hers will try to talk her out of giving me another chance. Not to mention what the rest of her spirits will put into her head. I refuse to let her go."

"Whatever you say Gajeel." Lily said as he flew into the house.

Walking into my house I threw my clothes off, leaving a trail behind me. Stepping into the bathroom I turned on the water to the hottest setting and stepped into it without waiting for it to warm up. Quickly scrubbing the smell of the bar's couch off of my skin I let the water run over my skin.

"DAMNIT!" I thundered as I smashed my fist into the tile in front of me, splintering them. _Why couldn't I have figured things out earlier; no why didn't I figure this shit out before I asked her out? _ I stood in the shower for several more minutes letting the scalding water be another punishment for my actions. Metalicana would have been so disappointed with how I had handled all of this. He had always told me that when we find a potential mate that we treat them as good as we would an actual mate, that way nothing would come back and bite us in the ass. I guess this is what he meant.

Leaning my head down, above the broken tile I sighed. _If I had treated her as such then we wouldn't be in the mess and I'd still be with Bunny right now. _

Sticking my hand out of the shower I yanked the towel off of the rack and accidentally tore it off with it. Ignoring the clatter of the iron rack hitting the ground I stepped over the mess and dried myself off. Walking through my house with the towel around my hips I went to my kitchen to find something to snack on. The fridge revealed nothing but Lily's kiwis, something I had grown to hate after eating so many. Slamming the door shut I opened the pantry and found it in a similar state as the fridge, empty. "Lily where's all of the damn food?" I yelled.

"You haven't gone shopping. Instead you went on a mission with Levy and her team, and once we got home you sat in the guild waiting for Lucy to return, only to ignore her when she was there."

Growling at his explanation I left the kitchen and went to get my clothes. "Lily get enough shit to last for a month, we don't know how long her mission is going to be." I said, passing his room. Grabbing a random bag off of the ground I dumped out its contents and started tossing random clothes in it. Once it was all packed I tossed it onto the bed and went about getting dressed.

Finished I looked around the room to see if I had missed anything that I would need, not finding anything I tossed my bag over my shoulder and left the house. I didn't bother to lock it because I knew Lily would do it when he was dome meticulously packing his bag; all of that military training back in Edolas made him a stickler for organization. Making my way through the street I went to Bunny's apartment to see if she had gone there to pack her bag for the mission. Using Natsu's way of entering her apartment I jumped up to the window to see if she was in there. Cracking open her window I was concerned when I didn't catch a strong trace of her scent, indicating that she had not been here in some time. _Tch. Must still be taking a shower at the bar, she does enjoy taking her time. _

Deciding to wait until she got here I made myself comfortable on her bed. Although her scent was really faint I enjoyed being surrounded by it. So much so that I got too comfortable and lost track of the time. Hearing her bunny alarm go off, something I had given to her as joke on our third date I cursed when I saw that an hour had passed since I had gotten here. _Damnit! Why hasn't she shown up yet?_ I thought as I jumped out of her bed.

Running through the street I made it to the guild in record time. Hearing Flame Brain and Ice Breath yelling and hollering within the guild I assumed they were fighting as usual. Although when I entered the guild I was surprised to find three of the four members of Team Natsu banging on rune walls that surrounded a section of the middle of the guild, effectively trapping them.

Looking around for Bunny I was disappointed when I didn't see her. _Where is she? _I thought as I walked further into the guild to get a better look at the trapped mages.

"Levy Thank Mavis! Get us out of here!" Erza said when she spotted the Solid Script Mage as she entered the guild. Levy, shocked to see her best friend's team trapped, ran to them and slid down on the ground pulling out books from her bag. Instantly she began deciphering the runes, using her past notes. Hearing a loud bang on the space above her, she looked up to see Natsu pressing his face against the rune watching what she did.

"Come on! We gotta go catch up to Lucy!" He said impatiently.

"Lu-chan? Is she alright?" She said biting her bottom lip in worry.

At my bunny's name my attention went from the guild doors to Natsu. "What do you mean catch up to her? She hasn't left on the mission yet has she?" I growled leaning over Half Pint to get closer to the runes Natsu was trying to push through.

"What's it to you?" Natsu and Gray yelled, concerned about his interest in their team mate. . "Ow!" They both said in unison when Erza smacked their heads together.

"That is no way to speak to Nakama, although I am curious as to why Lucy's where abouts are of any concern to you."

Looking away from their questioning eyes I mumbled my response. "She asked me to go on the mission with her. Why else would I be at the guild so early?"

At that Natsu began to flame up but was quickly extinguished by Gray's ice. "Don't do that in here. We'll be burned to a crisp you idiot."

"Why would Lucy ask you to go on a mission with her when she has us?" Erza asked.

Shrugging I kept the lies coming. "Something about needed rent money. Said that you guys destroyed too much stuff last time and didn't get any of the reward."

"But Lucy wouldn't just abandon us!"

"Plus the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus took her against her will!"

Getting annoyed by their shouting I walked away from them and went to the bar. Once I sat down Mira instantly appeared. When I saw her face I inwardly cringed. _Fuck did Lucy tell her about us?_

Mira had this knowing look, and was beyond angry. I could tell that she was barely containing her Satan Soul because parts of her skin were flickering back and forth. When she pointed to the back door I dutifully got up and lead the way to the empty training area.

"What do you want?" I growled.

"You're the reason Lucy sung that song yesterday aren't you? I saw the way she looked at both you and Levy when you two stepped forward at the end. What did you do, did you cheat on her with Levy?"

"No! I never cheated on her." I snarled at the Take Over Mage making her take a step back. "It's none of your business anyways; it's between Lucy and I. Now tell me where she is."

Refusing my demand she crossed her arms over her ample chest and continued to glare at me. "No. Obviously you lied to her team about why you were asking for her and by the way she looked this morning she doesn't want to deal with you. So I think it best that you leave her alone and take this time to get your shit together if you even want to consider winning her back."

"Tch. Meddling demon. You can't stop me from going out to look for her you know." I said smugly.

"She may not be able to but we can." The remaining members of Team Natsu said behind me with varying expressions of anger.

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**AN: Let me know what you thought. Please and Thank you! **

**OgaxHilda:** I agree he needs to suffer first. But I have yet to decide who she'll end up with. Its between Laxus and Gajeel.

**GemNika: **Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas! I really appreciate them!

**Ahra: **Thanks! I'm glad the second chapter kept you reading this fic! =]


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey everyone sorry for the long wait for an update! This fic is giving me a load of trouble and I've been blank about how I want things to progress. ****I'll try to get another one out sooner.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter. **

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**Lucy POV**

It was nice just standing out here clearing my head with the wind as the only noise in the background. I know that if I were with my team I would have been dealing with their questions nonstop about what was going on or what my song was about; tiptoeing around their hurt feelings for having not told them earlier about Gajeel. After they got over their momentary annoyance at not being told they'd go straight to overprotective mode, coming up with ways to punish him that'd range from beatings to being burned to life in an icicle for all eternity. All things I didn't need at the moment. I wanted to make up my own mind without the influence of their wild emotions, I needed time to think things through which is why I didn't try too hard to escape from Laxus earlier.

Even though I was enjoying the silence I was surprised that it wasn't an awkward one. If anything Laxus' silent presence was strangely comforting. I hadn't interacted with him much after Thunder Palace but I know that Natsu trusted him and that was enough for me, same with his team. We all have pasts here and I wasn't going to be the one to hold it against them.

Seeing movement from the corner of my eye I stopped looking at Laxus and saw something oddly familiar flying towards the train. Nudging Laxus with my elbow I pointed to the figure.

"It's just Pantherlily. He's been following us for a while, wondered when you'd notice." Laxus said as he closed his eyes again.

_No! Why can't Gajeel just leave me alone?_ I thought in panic as Lily drew closer.

"Breathe Lucy." I heard right before his hand smacked my back getting me to gasp.

Nodding my head I tried to calm myself down, but was unsuccessful. "Oh Mavis I'm not ready for this." I mumbled to myself.

Laxus was giving me an odd look as my panic attack continued. "Is there something I need to know?" he asked with a raised brow.

Shaking my head in response I turned towards him fully. "Do you...um...Think you could give me and Lily some privacy? You can go back to the room and take a nap; it'll be more comfortable than standing out here with me."

He looked like he wanted to protest but when the desperation leaked through my eyes he reluctantly grunted before he abruptly pushed off of the railing. Giving me one last look to make sure that this is what I wanted, I pushing past my panic in order to smile and nod that I wanted him to leave. When the door closed behind him I waited a minute or two before calling out and waving to Lily. Putting on a burst of speed Lily caught up to the train and sat on the railing, catching his breath.

"Hi Lily... do you need me to get you some water?" I asked in concern. Gasping out the word no Lily pulled out water of his own and guzzled it down. Taking advantage of the silence I blurted out my question. "Not to be rude, because it's always nice to see you, but what are you doing here? Gajeel isn't on the train right? He's not following?"

"Sorry Lucy. I know you said you wanted space but when I saw you being dragged out of the guild by them, I wanted to make sure you were alright. Plus I wanted to say I'm sorry for my idiotic slayer, what he did wasn't right and I never approved." He said as he put both of his tiny paws on top of one of my hands and looked up into my face earnestly. "He isn't on the train or following... yet, at least I don't think so. He made a plan to wait at the guild until you showed to follow you, but I think he thought he had more time until you got there so he probably took his sweet time getting to the guild.

"I want you to know that I haven't told him that I know where you're going or that I'm even with you. I believe he deserves to suffer for what he's done to you. And I hope that your breaking up with him doesn't mean that we can't be friends."

Hugging him I released the tears I had been holding in since I had gotten on the train. "Of course we'll remain friends and once I think things over regarding Gajeel we'll have some sort of relationship again, whether it's just friendship or more I don't know. But nothing he does will affect our friendship. I promise." I said giving him a watery smile."And thanks Lily... for worrying about me. But they're our friends, they would never do something to hurt us intentionally, not any more.

"Oh, and you shouldn't apologize for Gajeel, it wasn't your influence that caused him to act the way he did, he did it himself so he should be the one to apologize... but thank you."

I could see the relief in his eyes when I made my promise. He knew that I never broke a promise no matter the circumstances. For a while longer I kept him close, happy that I had been able to let some of my pent up emotions out. Saying our goodbyes I watched as he spread his wings and took to the sky.

The moment Lily took off to return to the guild the door behind me opened to reveal Laxus, sans his sound pods. Quickly turning away from him I erased the tear tracks from my face with the back of my hands. Even though I refused to look at him I heard him approach; he waited until he had resumed his previous laid back position besides me before he spoke. "So you and Gajeel…?"

Releasing a sigh I wasn't too surprised when I felt a few stray tears trickle down my cheeks. Giving up on hiding them from him I decided to face this head on and turned to him. "Yeah Gajeel and I were together, but it is over for now."

"How long?"

"About four months. We started dating after the Grand Magic Games and the Dragons." At my answer he looked surprised and somewhat confused. "Yeah I know, it didn't seem like we were together because we were never actually _together_ while we were at the guild. And that's the problem. I couldn't handle keeping it a secret anymore from my team and everyone else so I broke it off. Of course he was against that, saying what he had been saying the last four months that he needed time, and that things were going to change soon.

"And then this morning, before I broke up with him, he said that he wanted to tell everyone and that he loved me... but there was no way I could believe him. His revelation was too much of a coincidence, it followed too soon after Levy and Jet had announced their relationship.

"Ha! To be honest I think he wants to make her jealous or something like that. He has unresolved feelings for her; no matter how much he denies it I can tell by the way he looks at her when he thinks no one is watching, and by how protective of her he is. I've been deluding myself for these past months, wanting to believe that he hadn't picked the wrong girl… but I was wrong."

Feeling a pair of muscular arms hesitantly surround me, I froze and kept my arms to my side unsure of what I should do. "He'd be a fool to think he could find someone better." At his mumbled voice I felt more tears flow out and returned his hug in full force.

Uncaring at the moment that I was soaking his shirt with my tears I tried to speak, but even to my ears it sounded like a jumbled mess. "thatswhyisaidnowasntagoodtimetogettoknowme."

"Haha, what was that?"

Pulling back a little just so my mouth wasn't covered, I repeated myself quietly. "I said, that's why I said now wasn't a good time to get to know me… I'm a mess, and just want to curl into a ball and be left alone."

"Well it's too late for that Lucy, your stuck with us now for the time being and knowing how determined Ever has been to get to know you, you won't be alone very often. Just think of it this way, your mind won't be on that fool for long."

"I guess." Lifting my head further off of his chest I looked up at him. "Out of cuiosity… why'd you stay at the door? I didn't think you were one to meddle in other people's affairs."

"I heard and smelled the fear coming from you… and thought you were afraid that he'd come to hurt you. So… well…"

"You stayed to protect me?" I asked in disbelief.

"What of it?" He asked defensively

"No… I didn't mean to insult you… it's just… well thank you." After that almost misunderstanding I removed myself from his arms and wiped my face once again. _I've been doing this way too much lately._ I thought as I leaned against the railing, trying to get my mind off of Gajeel once again. _Funny how when we were together all I could think about was the next mission Team Natsu had planned but now he's all I can think about. _

**Laxus POV**

Joining her on the railing I wondered why I was still out here with her. Several times she has given me an out but each time I've remained. Back when I first met her I would have taken those outs and left each time, I had, had no patience back then for crying and over emotional girls. Hell I never would have bothered asking what was wrong with her, letting her handle her own business but now I felt compelled to stay, to comfort her.

Hugging her had been a shot in the dark, I half expected her to push me away or slap me but instead she returned the hug, shocking me.

_How did she do it, forgive so easily? _

She had opened up to me as if Thunder Palace hadn't happened, as if I hadn't ordered Bix to fight her or Ever to turn her to stone. And now here she was telling Pantherlily that she and Gajeel would be friends again, one day, even after he had broken her heart. It was amazing really. Some of the guild, people I had known for years, were still having problems forgiving what we had done. Yet here was this girl who had every reason to hate us, but didn't hold any of our past transgressions against us and wanted to be our friend.

So consumed by my thoughts I didn't notice that at some point she had leaned against me fast asleep. Feeling her shivering I slowly turned so her head was leaning on my tear stained shirt instead of my arm, as gently as I could I lifted her up and went back to the room where my team lay in wait. Reaching the door I could tell that Freed and Bix were still asleep by their breathing but Ever was wide awake. Knowing she was wondering where we had ran off too I softly knocked and waited for her to open the door. When she did her eyes got wide, looking from me to the blonde in my arms she moved aside and let us in. Watching as I placed Lucy on the unoccupied bench besides me she opened her mouth to ask me something but I shook my head at her signaling that we would talk about it later with the others when we got a chance.

A gentle finger snap drew my attention away from the sleeping mage at my side, looking to Ever I saw her toss something my way in time to catch it. Looking down at it I saw that it was one of my spare shirts. Glancing at the one I was wearing I nodded my thanks to her and proceeded to strip. We had been a team long enough that she was no longer bothered by Bix and I's tendency to change in front of her. At first she made a big fuss about it but now she just watched in boredom.

Making myself comfortable, well as comfortable as I could with a sleeping blonde next to me, I slipped my pods back on and thought of what she had told me and how we could fix it. _I'll have to ask Ever when we get into town. _

**Gajeel POV**

"Let me out of here Ice Breath!" I yelled as I struggled against my restraints and banged my shoulder against the cage he had made around me.

"Not until you tell us everything. Why Lucy sang that song, why she looked so sad and why she left the guild with Laxus and the Thunder Legion."

"It's none of your God damn business. If you don't release me now I promise to make you regret every minute I was in here." I growled in annoyance. "There are more important things than this little interrogation, like, I don't know, going after your team mate!"

"Gajeel..." I stopped my yelling and struggling as a small voice whispered my name. "What did Mira mean when she asked if you had cheated on Lu-chan?"

At her question the rest of Team Natsu paused in their huddled discussion about what they were going to do with me. _She they hadn't caught that part earlier. _"I don't know Shrimp, you know she's a matchmaking demon." I said with a nervous laugh, hoping she wouldn't pursue the subject.

"Yeah I know that. But a matchmaker doesn't usually mention cheating when she tries to make a match." Levy said as she approached the ice cage with a strange look on her face.

Stepping forward Erza extended her sword through the ice bars and pointed it at me. "She's right. So stop lying to us and tell us the truth. What is Lucy to you?"

Seeing no way to lie my way out of this hopeless situation I backed away from the sword at my throat and leaned against the other set of bars. Scowling in annoyance and defeat at literally being backed into a corner I reluctantly spoke. "Bunny and I've been datin' since we got back from the Games. W-"

"No way! Lucy would have told us if she had started dating you!" Natsu and Gray said in unison.

"That was over four months ago, Gajeel. Why would she have kept it a secret from everyone?" Avoiding her probing gaze I looked away only to be ensnared by Levy's horrified eyes. "In fact we were all surprised when Levy and Jet said they had gotten together. You've been spending an abnormally large amount of time with her and ShadowGear."

"Lu-chan!" Levy whispered in horror. Rushing to the side of the cage I was leaning against, she pleaded with her tear filled eyes that it wasn't true. "No...how could you! Why would you do that to her?"

Unable to reach out to her I tried once again to break the ice that had encased my hands behind my back. Feeling them give a little I kept it up all the while watching Levy's tears spill over. "Shrimp...I-" the sting of my cheek silenced me as I watched her scramble away after retracting the hand that had slapped me from the cage. Running into Jet's waiting arms, her boyfriend tried to comfort her as he led her out to the training yard.

Releasing an enraged roar, I broke through the casing around my hands and pounded on the bars of the cage. Letting out all of my anger as I continuously beat the barrier that contained me, I ignored the various looks of sympathy and anger that was directed to me. I had just alienated two of the most important people in my life and the third was off somewhere, nearly as upset as the girls were.

_How did everything turn to shit? Lucy. If she had just listened to me things wouldn't be like this now. We would have told everyone and things would have been better as I promised. _Banging my head on the bars, ignoring the sting of pain and the feeling of something running down my face, I rid myself of that train of thought. _No she did nothing wrong. She did everything right, going above and beyond what anyone else would have done. If it had been anybody else my ass would have been dumped ages ago. But I took advantage of her, and her ability to forgive and give chances; relishing the attentions of the two of them and enjoying being wanted for me instead of my status in the guild or my powers. Lucy, Levy... how could I have fucked things up so royally? How could I have thought that playing with their emotions would get me anywhere. Because of my actions I may have just lost everyone I cared about, everyone who accepted me for me. _

Feeling the bars melt away I fell down with the water, not even bothering to sit down gently. I sat there, not feeling anything; not how my soaked clothes uncomfortable stuck to my body, not the burning sensation of my fingers as they turned blue and purple from the ice, and definitely not the bruises and cuts on my head that I had inflicted upon myself. Feeling magic being pushed into my body searching for the injuries, I abruptly stood up and backed away from the small hands that I knew were the cause._ I didn't deserve to be taken care of right now. I didn't deserve much of anything. I had cause all of this; being left alone. It was my fault that this feeling of solitude, that felt far too familiar for my tastes, had reappeared. Metalicana would be utterly disappointed in me right now, he had told me time and time again that any women I could see as a potential mate needed to be treated with great care and be given the respect she deserved, and I had failed his instructions._

Consumed by my utter failure and sense of loneliness I didn't notice a woman creeping up on me. With one swift movement she hit me over the head with a serving tray, effectively knocking my weakened self out.

If I had been awake I would have seen that it was Mira who had an oddly satisfied smile on her face, had knocked me out, stunning everyone surrounding us. She shrugged off the restraining hands that held her back from causing anymore damage and ordered Elfman to drag, not literally, my body to the infirmary where I would be cared for, because according to her I couldn't make amends if I were dead.

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**An: Again I am really really sorry it took so long! But I hope you enjoyed it. **

**Let me know what you think, please and thank you! **

**TigerLily2214: **Yeah I totally wanted them together at the start of this fic but now I'm not so sure. It all depends on if I can come up with a way for Gajeel to make amends. We'll see. =]

**Ahra:**_Haha don'e apologize! I love your long reviews. =] I agree that Lucy could end up with either one of those mages, even though Gray would be hard considering he is still at the guild lol. You've got me thinking about if I really want her to end up with Laxus now. _

_Gajeel has been really selfish and he will have to work really hard to change his ways if he wants Lucy back. And that's going to be really tough to figure out a way to make that happen, this chapter shows him realizing his mistakes, but he still has a long way to go. _

**_GemNika: _**Thanks I'm glad you like it! I'm not too sure how I feel about it gaining a mind of its own and turning into a longer fic lol. It's already hard enough finding time for my other fic**_._** XD

**Lunanight19: **We shall see. Since **Ahra **gave me the idea that Lucy could be with Freed or Bixlow I now have to think about it. lol =]

**Daddys little crazy bitch:** Yay! I'm glad you love love love it! lol

**FW Wandering: **True, they may wind up searching for her together, you never know. ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I am soooooo sorry about how long it took me to get this chapter out! I have been sick, went on vacation and overall have had a major mental blockade for this fic. I know I know I keep saying that but it's true. :[**

**Anyways thanks to everyone who has stuck around to see what happens next, I hope you like this chapter as much as you've liked the past four.**

**Hopefully you guys never have to wait that long for another chapter, I'm gonna try really hard to make sure it doesn't happen again. And as proof, well at least for the next chapter, I have already begun writing it. YAY! Lol. I will post it when I am done, won't be for at least a couple more days though. =]**

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**Natsu POV**

"Mira you gotta tell us where they took her! She needs us." Gray demanded, worried for Lucy's well-being like we all were. Somewhere behind us I heard Juvia gasp at Gray's exclamation and growl "Love-rival" before she slumped back into a nearby chair, glowering quietly.

"I'm sorry you guys, but the mission is top secret and specifically requested that Lucy be accompanied by an S-class mage and a team." Holding up a hand to stall our protests Mira continued. "And before you say that Team Natsu fits that description, the requester needed someone who could be discrete and not cause unnecessary damage." She said apologetically. "All you can do now is trust that Laxus and the Thunder Legion will take care of her and ensure her safety, because you know they will."

Pushing past Gray and Erza I slammed my fist onto the granite bar top, unaware of the crack that splintered out from underneath my fist. "We know she will be safe with them but she needs _us!_ We know her more than they do, so we should be the ones to comfort her."

"Is that all you would be doing if you were with her right now Natsu?" Levy asked with her head bent over the table Jet and her were sitting at. "I'm one of her best friends too, and I know how you feel. I'm worried about her, but I'm also hurt that she never told me anything about her relationship with Gajeel. I know you all mean well but I believe that if you were to find her, you would unintentionally take your take your hurt out on her and make her feel worse about the whole situation. Her being with Laxus and the Thunder Legion could be a good thing, because she won't have to worry about our feelings in addition to hers." She finished with a sob as she buried her head into Jets shoulder.

"We wouldn't do that to Lucy!" I denied selfishly, further cracking the counter as I applied more pressure on the fist that had smashed into earlier. Deep down I knew that Levy was right. Lucy cared about us too much sometimes, even going so far as putting us before herself. If we were with her right now she would feel guilty about not telling us, and in the end it would be her trying to comfort us instead of us comforting her and then she wouldn't be able to focus on making herself feel better and move on.

"Natsu! I got it!" Happy yelled as he flew out from behind the bar and across the guild, holding the request ledger in his small paws above his head. Surprisingly Erza wasn't even mad about the blatant disregard for the rules, and made her way with Gray towards the guild doors and Happy. Looking back to see Levy's face awash of tears, pleading with me to see that she was right, Mira's enraged one and then to my team's expectant ones I made my decision. Walking to Happy I took the ledger from his paws and stared at it, ignoring the gasp of dismay from Levy and Mira's growl and transformation into Satan Soul.

_It'd be so easy to find out where she is going, but was that best for her? _I thought as Mira advanced. Closing my eyes and turning away from the demon I flung the book across the guild to the rapidly approaching Mira. The surprised gasps of my team ignored, I slammed out of the guild my feet taking me to the one place that I could be close to Lucy at the moment. Climbing through her window I flopped down onto her bed, inhaling her scent. _I hope I made the right decision Lucy. _

What the hell ash for brains, why did you give it back to Mira?" Gray said as he entered the apartment through the front door minus his shirt and shoes. Advancing on me he dragged me off of Lucy's bed and dangled me a couple of inches off of the ground.

"Gray don't." Erza said walking into the apartment with Gray's missing clothes in hand, placing the free iron clad on his shoulder. "Natsu did what he thought was best for Lucy, and it was the right choice. As Levy said, we want to believe that we could help her move on, but none of us knows the first thing about what to do after a break up. At least she is with Evergreen, who has had experience in that area, she'll be able to talk to her and hopefully that will help."

"But Lucy will be gone for months!" Gray whined as he released his grip on my vest and dropped me to my feet.

"And that's why I gave it back, because Levy was right. Our first thoughts were of ourselves, wondering how we will cope without her for so long. I know Lucy; if she wants us there with her, she will find a way to contact us to tell us so. And if she hadn't wanted to go with them nothing will keep her from returning home." I said looking at their depressed faces.

"At least we won't be completely bored; someone has to make sure that Gajeel doesn't sneak off to follow her." Gray said with a snarl.

Nodding our heads in agreement we all sat down on the couch, Happy sitting on the arm rest besides me, as we stared at the wall already missing Lucy.

**Lucy POV**

Falling asleep on a train was a new thing for me. Whenever I traveled with Team Natsu I was always awake never able to rest because of Gray constantly making fun of Natsu's motion sickness, or Erza's chatter about a new cake shop she wanted to try. But the most common and my favorite interruption was when I would doze off for a second, just a second, and Natsu would moan and groan loud enough for me to hear and wake up to. Waking up I would instantly continue running my fingers through his hair. As soon as he felt my hand moving he would settle down and go back to sleep straightaway. I don't know who I had pleased in this life or the last, but I thank Mavis every day for bringing Natsu into my life; he was the greatest best friend I could have asked for. And that was why I felt guilty when I woke up to find my head resting on Laxus' lap and _his_ team occupying the seats around us.

_I'm sorry Natsu for not telling you everything earlier… I never should have let Gajeel dictate my decision. _I thought as I slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and making sure I hadn't drooled on Laxus' lap in my sleep. Satisfied with the drool-less state of his pants I leaned over him, careful to not jolt him awake with any of my movements. Looking through the window I saw familiar terrain and knew that we would be arriving Crocus soon.

"Blondie, what are you doing? Not that I mind the view." The Dragon slayer beneath me said, startling me and causing me to lose my precarious position above him.

Landing on him with an 'oomph' I quickly scrambled off of him with my face bright red. "So…sorry!" I stuttered out incredibly embarrassed. When I heard the three previously sleeping mages across from us join in on the laughter, I was even more embarrassed. "Uh… we are almost there." I said hoping to change the subject.

All four of them grunted in acknowledgement, but none of them moved to get ready to exit the train. "We have at least another ten minutes Cosplayer, relax." Bickslow said with his tongue hanging out.

"Relax relax." His babies said from the open overhead compartment.

Looking at Bickslow's face I realized that I had never gotten a good look at his face without the grate on. "Like what you see Cosplayer?" He said jokingly while self-consciously adjusting his mask.

"_Why do you always wear the mask?" _ I thought only to cover my mouth when I realized I had said my thoughts out loud. Seeing him flinch and the other three freeze I quickly apologized. "Sorry, that was rude. You don't have to tell me. I was just wondering… sorry." I mumbled the last apology, mentally cursing my curiosity. Not expecting him or the rest of them to respond to my rude question I sat there awkwardly avoiding looking at them.

"…you should know Cosplayer, you had a from row seat to the reason during Thunder Palace."

Looking confused for a minute until I realized what he was talking about I leaned forward in my seat. "You mean your Figure Eyes? But you have control over them don't you? " Seeing him nod I continued. "Then I don't see a problem, as long as you can control your powers then you should have to wear the mask at all times. I mean look at Freed and Evergreen, they don't wear masks and they have magic in their eyes."

For a second they all looked at me dumbfounded that I was arguing _for_ the removal of his mask. "Yeah… well most people tend to be uncomfortably around me if my eyes are exposed. They think I will take control of them and make them do something pervy; which come to think of it isn't a bad idea." I could tell by the inflection of his voice that he was acting as if everyone's irrational fear didn't hurt him.

"That's stupid." I said looking him dead in the eyes, well where his eyes would be if he wasn't covering them. "Those people are stupid, there is no reason for them to be afraid of you unless you had a history of doing something like that, which you don't.

"When you're around me you don't have to wear it, I'm not the least bit afraid of you Bickslow. If you _want_ to wear it then wear it, but I don't want you to feel obligated to wear it because you think I will be scared. Just do whatever makes you comfortable."

"Thanks Cos- Lucy. I'll keep that in mind."

Glad to have settled that for the moment I stretched in my seat, loosening my stiff muscles from being curled up on the bench for so long. Feeling the train slowing down I stood up and grabbed my two bags. Not having to rush off of the train was another first, by the time the train had come to a complete stop everyone had all of their belongings and were ready to go. There was no trying to squeeze Erza's bags through the hallway and then out the door, just a pack or two per person as it should be.

As soon as we got off of the train and the crowd of passengers cleared I saw flashing lights coming from a distant building. Similar to Loke's light messages the ones that I saw exploded in the air saying 'The Magic Box Grand Opening.' Watching the lights disappear and new one appear I tried to figure out where the lights were coming from so I could find it later. "What time do we have to be at the castle?" I asked no one in particular, fullying intending on going to the new shop to look for keys if we had the time.

"We have about four hours until the time I had told the Princess we'd be there. Hopefully she was able to cancel the Sabertooth mages before they got on their train, I don't want to have to fight them over this mission. But if you wanted to do something you only have three hours because I wanted to get there an hour early to deal with the castle security and settle in a bit."

Giddy at the thought of my upcoming shopping spree I summoned Virgo. "Punishment time Princess?" she asked when she appeared before me.

"No, no punishment Virgo. I was wondering if you could store our bags-" I said looking to my four companions, raising my eyebrows in question. Seeing them nod confusedly I continued. "- can you please hold store our bags in the Spirit World until we get to the castle?"

"Of course Princess." She said as she gathered all of our bags into a pile. "Will that be all, Princess?"

"Yes, thank you Virgo!" Turning back to the four I froze when I saw that they were all confused except for Bickslow who was laughing. "Did I miss something?"

"You punish your spirits Lucy-sama?" Freed asked hesitantly.

"Of course not! That's just Virgo's thing, she always asks for punishment, but I have never done it." I said quickly dissuading those thoughts.

"Haha first it's cosplaying and now you're a dominatrix. Is there anything else we need to know about you?" Bickslow laughed with his tongue hanging out, his guild mark completely visible.

"Dominatrix, dominatrix." His babies repeated floating around his head.

"Look mommy it's a Fairy Tail mage!" A little boy pointed to Bickslow as he dragged his mother closer, the rest of the people who had heard following closely. Within seconds the boys were surrounded by people as Evergreen and I stood at the fringe of the crowd laughing at their bewildered faces.

"It's Laxus!"

"Will you sign my magazine Freed?"

"Can I touch your totems Bickslow?"

"We love you guys!" Some fangirls screamed from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. "Marry me!" With each new line the crowd yelled Evergreen and I laughed even harder. I couldn't believe how many fans Fairy Tail had gained after we had won the Grand Magic Games!

Laxus seeing and hearing us laughing at their current predicament smirked causing us to shut up and shake our head, pleading for mercy. Raising one hand he waved "hey Ever, Lucy!"

For a second the crowd got quiet before they began talking, even louder than before. The ones who weren't currently drooling over the guys turned their head to look for us. "Where's Lucy?!"

Horrified, I caught ahold of Evergreens arm and made a run for it before anybody noticed us. Before we were completely out of sight of the ever growing crowd I turned back to see Laxus glowering at us. "Have fun boys! See you at the castle in three hours!" I shouted as I waved to Laxus and blew him a kiss with a wink, and a laugh before disappearing around a corner.

Keeping up a brisk pace until we were a couple of blocks away Evergreen and I found a café where we could rest and grab something to eat. "Ahaha. When you blew that kiss to Laxus I swear that vein on his forehead was going to pop!"

"I know! I can't believe he was going to rat us out and subject us to that same torture. Good thing you had the hind sight to pull us away from them in the first place, otherwise we'd be trapped like them!"

"And you got us out of there before the crowd found us. Those poor boys' they will be stuck there for hours!" Evergreen said as she sat down in a corner booth away from the windows.

Sitting across from her I nodded. A part of me felt bad about leaving them, but then the other half was glad that it hadn't been me. I was holding on by a thread, trying to keep my emotions at bay, the stress of people shoving up against me, shouting in my face would have made me snap. "This way I can get some time to shop without them complaining at each store." I mused

"They're the worst when it comes to shopping! Most of the time I have to go by myself because I don't want to deal with Bickslow's comments about every outfit I try on, or Laxus' unhelpful grunts, or Freed's embarrassed silence. Those are the times I wish there was another girl around-" She stopped abruptly, realizing what she had said. "It's not that I don't have girlfriends to go out with, I have tons of them…" When I just stared at her she fidgeted in her seat before blurting out "Alright! I don't have any friends who aren't guys. The women I meet tend to avoid me for some reason, so I've just given up on trying to be-friend them."

Thinking about it I realized I have never seen Evergreen sit with any of the girls at the guild. She always is sitting with her team and Laxus, and Elfman some of the time. I also haven't seen anyone approach her either, including me. "I'm sorry Evergreen. I'm just as guilty as everyone else, not in the intentional avoidance but I never sought you out, you always seemed unapproachable as you guys sat upstairs away from all of us. I thought that was how you guys liked it, so I didn't want to intrude. And then whenever you sat around Elfman, threatened to not disturb you in fear of stalling Mira's chance of being an aunt."

"That's okay Lucy; I didn't say what I did to you make you feel bad, it's just how it is now. But Mira should know better we've told her time and time again that we weren't dating and that there definitely wouldn't be any babies anytime soon."

"You guys are together yet?"

"Not officially, we are still getting to know each other. Plus dealing with one catastrophe after another doesn't really leave much time for dating anyways." She shrugged, looking at me expectantly. "What about you and Natsu?"

"Oh heavens no! Natsu is my best friend, nothing more. And before you ask about Gray let me tell you that he is the brother I've never had. Where Juvia got the idea I was her 'love-rival' I will never know for sure, but I am most definitely not her love-rival." _I'm surprised Laxus didn't tell them everything once he had returned us to the train compartment. They're going to find out eventually, so I might as well tell her now. _"Actually I-"

"Look at the time, we been blabbing on for an hour, we should head out if we want to have enough time to hit those shops." Evergreen said as she threw some jewels on the table and stood up. Reaching into my pocket to grab some jewels to pay for my portion of lunch Evergreen shook her head. "This ones on me."

"Thanks, I'll get the bill next time." I said beaming at her.

"There will be a next time?" She said baffled at the thought.

"Of course! Even when we return to the guild we will hang out, you just gained your very first girlfriend, Evergreen." I smiled, hoping I hadn't jumped the gun in assuming we were friends now.

"Ever… my friends call me Ever." She said quietly before returning my smile with one of her own.

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**An: So there it is! I hope you all liked it, let me know what you thought. Please and thank you!**

**OgaxHida:** I wouldn't say nothing…at least I hope it's not nothing. I still am hoping to find some way to get them together, at least so I can have GaLu as a viable option when the time comes.

**Leoslady4ever: **I'm not sure either! I love GaLu, but I also love BixLu and LaLu. But as long as the guy that wins Lucy's heart loves her and won't break her heart [again] then I am fine. It's just a matter of seeing how the story progresses at this point. Because I can totally see her with Bickslow, Laxus or even Freed at this point.

**kurahieiritr JIO: **It most definitely has a mind of its own! I don't even know how I wrote most of this chapter; I know I could never have planned it out. It just suddenly came to me and I loved it so I wrote it. Lol.

It most definitely isn't going to be a NaLu! They won't even be seeing each other for months at least that's what I think so far. As for Laxus he does need to learn that his womanizing ways will only get him so far in life before he realizes that it is not the way he can live for his entire life.

**SeleneJade: **Haha I know! But it could either be a sibling type relationship or more. Decisions decisions. =]

**Cow-lover2214: **That's the hard part! I hate the idea of Gajeel losing one of the few people he calls a friend in order to keep Lucy. I am hoping for some way he gets to keep both of them in his life…not likely though. Laxus with her sounds good too, but then someone mentioned that it could be any of the other two guys in the Thunder God Tribe so now I'm torn.

**Ahra: **I don't think you added enough O's in long to define how much he has to work for her forgiveness, and even after she forgives him he'll have to work some more to win her back. But so far I am not foreseeing how that is going to happen so we shall see.

I am glad I was able to work in that Lily scene! I was debating between Lily staying with her and leaving to return to Gajeel and I think I made the right choice when I had him go back. He would have just been another reminder for Lucy, and made it harder for her to move on… if that is what she winds up doing.

What did you think of Natsu's decision this chapter?! I was on the fence about it at first but I believe that deep down Natsu isn't as dense as he appears to be and that even if they are separated Natsu wants what is best for Lucy.

**Daddys little crazy bitch:** Yay yay yay! lol


	6. Chapter 6

**An: Hello lovelies. Guess what it's another chapter! *Gasp* This fic has decided to crack open up it's door to me, finally! If I'm patient enough hopefully it will open all of the way one day. **

**I hope you all enjoy it. =]**

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**Lucy POV**

Seeing as it was the grand opening of the shop I had been expecting it to be crowded with a huge line waiting to get in, but I was happily surprised when we got there and there was only one other person in the shop besides what appeared to be the owner. Although it was good for me I knew that it wasn't good for the shop, and made a mental note to buy a little extra to help out.

"Welcome welcome! Please let me know if you have any questions." The shopkeeper said before returning his attention to the teenager who was standing across from him, examining something.

While Ever looked around the back shelves that held magically enhanced make-ups and accessories I made a beeline for the glass display cases that held all of the small objects. Going from case to case, my hope of finding a Celestial Key dwindled until it was nothing. Releasing a sigh of disappointment I decided to look around the rest of the shop, even though I hadn't found a key I had wanted to look for a portable communication lacrima so I could contact my team while I was away. Weaving in and out of the rows of shelves I finally found them after picking out several presents for everyone in Team Natsu and Levy. Picking out a small pink lacrima, I placed it in my basket before heading to the front.

"Find anything good?" I asked Ever as she fell in line behind me at the register.

"Nothing I can't wait for until after we finish our request." She shrugged peeking into my basket to see what I had picked out. "Is that a fish pillow?"

"Haha yeah. I thought it would be perfect for Happy." Shrugging I stepped towards the counter as the man who was earlier threw something at the owner before rudely shoving us aside to leave the shop. "What was that about?" I muttered watching his retreating back. Turning back to the owner and saw a glint of silver as he placed whatever had been thrown at him in his pocket.

"Sorry about that, ladies, he was quite rude." Taking the basket from my hands he emptied it out on the counter and ringing them up.

"By chance, was that a Celestial Key you just put in your pocket?" I asked hopefully.

Pulling it out of his pocket he held it in his palm showing me. "Yes it was. That young man was upset when the spirit didn't answer his call, that's why he threw it at me." Looking dejectedly down at the key he sighed. "Because he wasn't able to summon the spirit he accused me of trying to sell a fake, and promised to tell everyone to avoid my shop."

"How much do you want for it?"

"Wha… you want to buy it?"

"Of course, I can't make a contract with the spirit unless I have possession of the key, plus I can tell it's the real deal." I smiled, winking at his stunned face.

"100,000 Jewels," he said tentatively, as if I was going to change my mind at the price.

Without visibly complaining I handed him 230,000 jewels, enough for the key and the rest of my stuff. In my mind I was gaping at the price and my dwindling funds that I had surprisingly gotten from the last mission Team Natsu had done before I left. When I reached for the key he caught my hand in his and brought it to his face.

"You're a Fairy Tail mage! For you anything you want is 50% off!" He said returning half of my jewels to me.

"That's nice and all but since it's your grand opening you shouldn't be handing out discounts."

"No, no I insist, my granddaughter would have my head if I let you pay full price." Putting on his glasses from atop of his head he leaned over the counter and got a good look at us. "Oooh I can't wait to tell everyone that Lucy and Evergreen of Fairy Tail were here!"

Looking to Ever for help, I received nothing but a shrug and her fan hiding her face as she shook with laughter. "Gee you're so helpful." I whispered sarcastically. "There has to be something _we _can do for you in return. Do you need help around the store, or something delivered?"

"…now that you mention it, since that young man is off spouting God knows what about my store, if you two could pass out these flyers and say something positive about my The Magic Box, that would be great!" He said holding out a stack of flyers that was as long as my torso.

"Anything for you." I smiled as I separated the piles into two and gave some to Ever, while I picked up the rest and left the shop.

"Uggh, I don't see why I have to help pass out the flyers." Ever laughed, not really bothered by it.

"You had the chance to help me come up with something else we could do in return, but all you did was laugh."

"Can you blame me? At least it wasn't as bad as the boys." Placing her stack on the ground she looked around at all of the milling people and ordered me to put mine down as well. "I have a much faster way of doing this. You stay here and hand out your half and I will meet you here after I am done with mine."

Before I could ask her what her plan was she picked stack up and took off. She waited until she was a couple of block away before she began showering her flyers all over town, shooting off lights that turned into the Fairy Tail symbol. Not to be upstaged I summoned Loke to help me by doing his own light display. In no time at all, all of our flyers were gone and the line I had originally expected at the magic shop had appeared, tenfold. Glad that we could help out the old man, Ever and I resumed our shopping trip.

Because we had spent so much time at the magic shop and handing out we were only able to go to a couple of more shops before we ran out of time. Even though we didn't get to visit all of the shops on the strip I didn't mind, considering how successful our trip to 'The Magic Box' had been.

By the time we had gotten to the hotel both of us were huffing and puffing as we half ran and half crawled up the final flight of stairs where the main entrance was. When we reached the top we were greeted by three disheveled and annoyed mages. Their clothes were torn in some places, like their fans had been tugging on them to get their attention and pulled too hard. Smiling up to them from my bent position, I put my hands on my hips and slowly stood up. "How's it going?" I asked still out of breath. Grunting they continued to glare at Ever and I.

Neither one of us moved to knock on the door as we stood there looking a lot worse for wear. Passing my hand over my keys I learned that we had only five minutes to make ourselves presentable for our meeting with the Princess and King; I didn't want to give the King anymore reason to prefer the Sabertooth team over us.

"Open Gate of the Giant Crab, Gate of the Maiden! Cancer! Virgo!"

"-Ebi."

"Punishment Princess?"

"Hey you two, sorry this isn't a social call we have… four and a half minutes to become presentable for the King to receive us, can you two help us?"

With a nod of their heads they got to work. While Cancer began attacking Ever and my hair, putting everything back in place, Virgo set about mending the guy's clothes. In no time they were done and left us with a minute to spare. Seeing everyone's clothes cleaned and pressed I squeezed pass the stunned boys and was about to use the brass gargoyle knocker when both doors opened suddenly to reveal a man who looked like Capricorn, except human. He looked baffled as he took in our appearances.

"Bu… but…"

"Good afternoon sir we are here to see the King."

"Ahem. Well His Majesty will see you now." He said before walking briskly away. Leading us to the throne room he bowed deeply to the King and then gave us a scathing look as he left.

"First off have you brought my crown back that the pink haired slayer stole -Kabo?" The King said before we had the chance to greet him. Looking to each other we all sweat dropped at not thinking about getting it from Natsu.

"Daddy, don't harass them, they've come here to help us."

"We don't need their help, the Sabertooth mages are on their way. We will of course compensate them for their wasted time."

Sighing Princess Hisui walked up to her father and put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "We talked about this last night. It doesn't matter anyway, I already told Sabertooth that their services would be better suited for protecting the Prince, and sent them to his castle. So if you send Lucy and her guild mates home we will have no one for the trip tomorrow." The King deflated at that.

Curtseying, I greeted the Princess; "Your highness" the rest of my temporary team doing the same. Raising my head slightly from its bowed position I saw the princess walking towards us.

"All of you please get up, and call me Hisui. After everything we went through and all you guys did to save us from the dragons such formality is unnecessary." Motioning the servers to bring chairs for the five of us we waited until they were set in a row in front of the two thrones and everyone had been seated, before the Princess spoke.

"For the past three months I have been receiving threatening letters from an anonymous source. It was at that time I announced my upcoming nuptials to the prince of the neighboring kingdom of Seven. He and I have been friends since we were little, and our feelings for one another grew into something more despite our pre-arranged marriages to other people. To say the news of our engagement was not received well is an understatement. It is my belief that the siblings we were betrothed to; the princess and prince of Bosco, have been sending the letters, or someone else who is doing it under their command. It is because of the letters and the fact that they employ far more mage guards than we have, that I have asked you to join my staff temporarily until Trent and I have married.

"You all will be acting as my personal guard, and since you know each other better I will let you decide who will pair up with whom during each shift. I will be your responsibility during the day, but at night my regular guard and my father's will stay with me as my dad and I sleep. At that time you may do as you please as long as you are ready and able the next morning. Although I do ask that if you see or feel something amiss please alert the rest of us.

"As for the days we will be visiting, and staying at the various noble houses you will also be free to do as you wish since any harm to befall me while we are there will be seen as treason, the families will provide amble security." Handing me a stack of files to pass out she continued. "This is the itinerary for the trip; it will tell you what order we will visit the nobles and which hotels we are staying at. Needless to say this is for your eyes only, meaning, don't lose it.

"While you are with us we will of course provide for anything and everything you need; uniforms, formal attire, food, lodging, etc. If you have a special request please ask it before we leave tomorrow morning. Do you have any questions?"

Raising my hand I spoke. "I do Pri- Hisui. Mira, the silver haired women you spoke with earlier, said that you specifically requested me. Why is that may I ask? A S-class mage and team are fully capable of handling this without me."

"Of course they can handle it, but they are to be seen as just guards, no offense. The people I will be visiting, and traveling with will not take kindly to guards milling about so closely, listening to their every word. That is where you come in Lucy, your job is to protect me yes, but you will be in disguise as you do it. While the nobles are around you will be accompanying me to most of the various social functions, and dinners I am required to attend. We will have to find a way of hiding your guild mark, but other than that my plan should go off without a hitch; they will never know that I'll have a guard a few feet away. It's a brilliant plan, isn't it?" she said with a small laugh. "Now if there are no other questions Michiko, our lead housekeeper, will take you to your rooms where you will find the guard uniforms and other clothes. I made sure that all of your rooms were next to each other so you wouldn't get lost."

With no other choice but to follow her to our rooms I walked in stunned silence. _I wish I had been sent to Prince Trent's castle instead of here. Noble houses, dinners, social functions, and people who didn't acknowledge mages as a legitimate profession; it was my childhood back to haunt me. I don't want to wear those stuffy gowns, nor have my face and hair done every day._ Groaning at the thought, I contemplated running back to Fairy Tail, but knew I couldn't, not only because Gajeel was there but because no one has ever not completed an accepted request without giving it their all first and I wasn't going to be the first. _Trapped, that's what I was. _

Halting in the middle of a blue hallway Michiko pointed to each room, naming off who it was intended for. Without waiting to see if we needed anything else she scurried away without looking back.

"Cosplayer you okay, you look a little green."

"Green, green."

"I'll be fine; I just need to rest a bit." I mumbled before going into my room and closing the door. _Why couldn't this have just been a simple protection job, with normal people? _I thought as I fell face first onto the bed, not bothering to pull down the covers.

**Laxus POV**

Watching the usually happy and cheerful Lucy, transform into a quiet and depressed Lucy was baffling to say the least. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in her the moment Hisui began talking about noble this and noble that; it truly was disconcerting.

"Wonder what got into her." Bickslow muttered as his babies, who had moved to follow Lucy's retreat, returned back to their position above his head.

"The life of a noble is not all fun and games, and I believe Lucy-sama knows that." Freed said quietly.

"But she'll get to dress up, dance with all of the handsome men and mingle with all of the big wigs of Fiore. What's wrong with that?" Ever asked, sighing wistfully at the thought.

"But we have to remember that Lucy-sama ran away from that life at one point, and I did too. Believe me when I say it's not all fun and games. The people she is about to be thrust upon are scarier than any demon, and just as ruthless. Politics, scandals, pre-arranged marriages. I shudder at the thought of ever returning to such a life, even temporarily."

Well when he put it like that, it didn't seem like a cushy job after all. If what Freed said was true, and it usually was, then we had the better half of the job. Getting nights off, not having to be stuffed into a room full of people we didn't know, and didn't care to socialize with, it sounded pretty damn good to me.

"Let's let her rest for what is in store for her. We have to stuff to talk about." I said leading the way into what was supposed to be my room for the night. Walking into the plush room, I heard Ever gasp at the four poster bed before she gave a flying leap and landed face up on the bed, groaning about how comfortable it was. "Ever this is serious. Plus you have the same bed in your house."

Scoffing at that she sat up and swept her arms open. "How can you say that? My bed isn't anywhere near this nice, and have you seen this room, it is easily better than all of the suites we've ever stayed in." When I didn't return her sentiments she turned to the other two in the room. "Freed? You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yes, it's very nice." Freed said distractedly as he looked over the titles of the books that were on the shelves.

"This is why I need a girl around" Ever mumbled.

"What was that Ever?" Curious as to why this was the first time I was hearing this.

"Nothing, it was just something Lucy and I were talking about earlier. This luxury is totally lost on all of you isn't it?" She sighed disappointed to have no one gush over the room with.

"What do you expect Ever? We're just here for the night; there is no use in getting comfortable since we will be traveling for so long."

"Fine."

"What exactly did you and Lucy talk about after you left us to fend for ourselves? Don't think I have forgotten about that Ever." I asked after everyone was done exploring the different parts of the room and took a seat at the couch.

"That's unlike you Laxus, wanting to hear all of the gossip."

"Tch, it's not for that. What I have to talk about is about her so I wanted to know if she told you already."

"Well why don't you tell us and then I'll let you know if she spoke about it."

"Tch. So difficult." I said making myself comfortable on the foot of the bed. "About an hour into the train ride Lucy had a visitor. Since I was on the other side of the door I heard everything they said. If you hadn't noticed Lucy wasn't her usual self when she got to the guild this morning, nor was she acting normal on the train before you all fell asleep." When I saw all of them nod I continued. "Pantherlily came to apologize for Gajeel; he did something that caused them to break up. So keep an eye on her and report back if she is acting strange or isn't paying attention to the job, but she's already reassured me that she was okay enough to do this job. And needless to say if you see Gajeel, let me know and I'll deal with it."

"Lucy-sama and Gajeel?" Freed asked confused. "But what about Phantom Lord?"

"Way to go Gajeel." Bickslow laughed.

"Way to go, way to go." His babies chimed in.

Watching Ever hit Bickslow upside the head I answered Freed. "According to Lucy she doesn't hold what happened while he was a part of Phantom Lord against him, at least not after Master let him join."

"Then that means…"

"Yeah, she doesn't hold Thunder Palace against any of us either."

"I thought she was just joking when she said I didn't have to wear my mask around her, but she really meant it, didn't she?"

"Meant it, meant it."

"Yeah Bickslow she meant it. She even told Panterlily that Gajeel and her would be friends again, even if they didn't get back together." Taking in their reactions, I saw that Bickslow and Freed were just as shocked as I was when I had been eavesdropping on her and Pantherlily, but Ever didn't appeared shocked. "So did she tell you this already Ever, you don't seemed very shocked."

"No. But she was about to say something before I got carried away with the thought of shopping. I shouldn't have interrupted her. I make a new friend and I blow it the next minute."

"That's not how she operates, I'm sure she would have brought it up again. Don't sweat it Ever."

"Yeah you're right. So what are we going to do to help her get over him?" She looked at me expectantly.

"Whoa, we aren't going to do anything. You go do you're girly talk with her and help her move on. I've already offered to listen to her, so if she takes me up on that offer I will try to help her out." I said.

Standing up from her seat, Ever walked to the door, to presumably go to her own room, and left mumbling about how useless we were.

Shaking my head at her retreating back I turned to the guys who still were processing their shock.

_This is going to be a long night. _

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**An: Soooo? What'd you think? Tell me everything, whether it's good or *sniffs* bad. ;)**

**Blessed Unrest: **Haha I loved that part too!

**leoslady4ever: **Thanks! I have you to thank for this difficult decision of who she'll end up with, but I love you for it too. I don't know why, but my mind was just focused on a possible LaLu or GaLu, not the other two. Lol

**Cow-Lover2214: **Thanks :) There are so many options available to me, it's hard to chose. But I'm glad you liked the BixLu and LaLu moments, I aim to please!

**SeleneJade: **Haha well if it is a sibling relationship you won't be the only one who is disappointed. I love LaLu, but I also love GaLu and BixLu. So many wonderful pairings, but there is only one Lucy in the story. *sigh*

**Ahra: **I've thought of that too, about how he hasn't beaten Laxus and Erza, his heart is never really in it the way it is during the important fights. But that's okay, it gives him something to work towards.

Thanks! I don't know how I ever thought that I was going to do this fic in a couple of chapters! I mean I'm on chapter six and two days have gone by in the fic. TWO! Lol. But as long as I'm having fun writing it, and making the boys suffer. I'm fine with it.

**kurahieiritr JIO: **Thanks! Again I don't know how it happened but that scene with the boys and their fans just appeared out of nowhere and I LOVED it! lol.

**GingerLily01: **Haha I will try! p.s what do you think is too dramatic?

**FW Wandering: **Nope not enough BixxLu stuff same with FreLu but that can always change. We shall see what happens! And yes, I loved that Ever made a friend! I think she needs to spend more time around the girls of Fairy Tail... although if I had a choice I'd probably stick to hanging out with the three guys. XD


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Yay you only had to wait a week for the next chapter! lol **

**Only seven followers away from 100! **

**Sorry for any and all mistakes I may have missed and I hope you enjoy! **

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**Gajeel POV**

"I know you're awake, Gajeel." Shrimp said from the chair beside the bed I was on. Grunting in acknowledgement I tried to shift into a more comfortable position but was unable to because of the restraints. Snapping my eyes open I growled at the sight of my arms and legs that were tied down, and tried to break free of them by popping out iron spikes where the straps were but once again was foiled.

"Get these god damn things off of me." I demanded glaring at the offending things. During my struggle to use my magic and escape, Levy had backed away from me and now had her back pressed up against the door. Forcibly reigning in my anger and annoyance I calmed down somewhat. "I'm not gonna hurt you Shrimp... You know that." All she did was nod and hesitantly take a step forward. "If you're so damn scared then why are you here?"

"I'm not scared. And I'm here because I wanted answers."

"You got about all you're gonna get outta me."

"... Why? Why were you always hanging out around me while we were in the guild and on missions?" Taking a deep breath she continued walking forward until her thighs were touching the edge of the bed. "Why did you guys tells everyone when you started going out? Why keep it a secret?"

I could smell the tears as they formed at the edges of her eyes, not quite ready to fall. "Go away Levy. Save your questions for Lucy when I bring her back."

"...Lu-chan is safely away from here. She has had an entire day to go wherever she was needed and even if you weren't shackled to the bed right now, Natsu has made it his mission to keep you away from her...and I agree with his decision."

"They can't keep me from my girlfriend. I'll find her one way or another."

"-ex. Ex-girlfriend." Levy said timidly, watching for my reaction.

Not wanting to disappoint I roared in anger and denial at what I knew to be true and started my struggling again. Thrashing all over the bed I knocked my sheets off, but didn't care, I needed to get free so I could patch things up with Bunny. The more time she had to think about her decision the less likely I'd be able to fix what I had done, although I didn't know how I'd fix things.

"What the hell's wrong with my magic?" I asked when my spikes and blade refused to come forth.

"...we aren't too sure. Virgo put them on you when you were knocked out. We couldn't take them off if we tried, she didn't leave us a key." Shrugging she returned to her seat and just watched as I tried to free myself. After another five minutes of no progress I snarled in frustration and slammed my head down onto the pillows.

"Gajeel. Please tell me wh...what happened between you and Lucy. I want to help."

"Ha, help who?"

"...you..." She whispered, her face turning bright red.

"Help me by getting out of here. Make a key, or get Ice Breath to make a key. Hell I'd even settle for Flame Brain melting the damn thing.

"Where the hell is Lily?"

"He's downstairs with everyone else. Would you like me to tell him to come up?"

"Yeah."

"You need to learn some manners." She mumbled to herself before doing as she had offered.

The moment she closed the door behind her everything was silent, which was odd considering my dragon senses normally allowed me to hear what was going on in the main room of the guild through a door. Listening harder, I cursed when I still couldn't hear anything.

"Struggling won't help; you can't escape Virgo's restraints." Loke said as the light he appeared in disappeared.

"Then call her and get her to take these off of me."

"Virgo said she would come back to take them off once Lucy is far enough away. But know this we will help Natsu keep you away from her." Loke threatened and vanished right as Lily opened the door.

Sniffing Lily's scent as he entered the room, I stared at him in shock, "why do you smell of Bunny?"

"I haven't had the chance to shower since last night; it's probably from when she hugged me." Lily shrugged; jumping onto the bed he sat on my stomach and glanced at my restraints.

"No this is stronger than residual from two nights ago. You've seen her recently." I said pulling against the straps on my wrist to get closer to Lily's face. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. When I left our house to go to the guild I saw her and went to apologize on your behalf, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter." Standing up Lily looked down at me. "I know there is nothing I can say or do to dissuade you from looking for her, but I think you should know that I don't support you chasing after her. If she wanted to be around you she would have stayed as she had done before when you guys fought, but she didn't. Give her the space she asked for Gajeel, otherwise I fear that there will be no chance of you ever winning her back."

"Where are you going Lily?" I asked when I noticed a pack on his back as he walked to the door.

"I'm going to the exceed village with Happy and Carla. We'll be gone for a while. Hopefully you'll listen to reason and do as Lucy suggested and work out your feelings for Levy, and then decide."

_Lily…_ I thought as a blushing Levy was startled when my exceed left the room suddenly without looking back.

**Lucy POV**

We have been on the road for two days now, making our way to the first of many noble houses. This part of the job wasn't so bad, at least not yet. We only had her staff and the royal guards in our party so far and they all knew who I was and the entire situation behind why we were here, so there was no need to get all dressed up and play the part of an aristocrat. So all in all everything was going fine, except I have been getting weird looks from Freed and Bickslow for the past couple of days. While Ever and I would be talking with the Princess I could feel their eyes on me, but every time I would look at them they would quickly turn their heads away and pretend that they hadn't been looking.

Glancing at the clock on the wall I saw that it was getting close to the time when Hisui would contact her husband to be, and listened patiently to the rest of what she had to say before she excused herself from the couch in my room - _no matter how many times we had tried to tell Hisui and her father that we didn't all need separate rooms they wouldn't listen_. Shaking my head at the thought I smiled and waved at the Princess as she left the room and turned to Ever, determined to get some answers.

"Okay spill. Why have Freed and Bickslow been staring at me for the past couple of days?"

"Uh I don't know what you're talking about Lucy."

"Oh don't even try to act dumb. You've been giving me looks too when you don't think I'm paying attention. Have I had something stuck in my teeth for the past two days?" I said revealing all of my teeth at her in a wide mouth grin and getting her to laugh. "Really Ever you can tell me, I won't get mad I promise."

"Oh fine. But you can't get mad, you promised."

"Yup and Celestial Mages take their promises seriously... Well at least I do."

"LaxustoldusaboutyouandGajeel." She blurted out in one breath.

All I heard out of that sentence was Laxus and Gajeel, but that was enough. "Oh..."

Scooting closer to me she grabbed the closet hand. "You promised not to get mad...I knew I shouldn't have said anything." She said hanging her head.

"No no I'm not mad. It's just something I've been pushing back in the recesses of my mind and haven't been thinking about much. Between talking to you and the princess and trying to get Freed's nose out of a book, Laxus to take off his pods and Bickslow to take off his mask, my mind hasn't had time to think about him and what happened.

"Did you want to talk about it? Or are they just looks of sympathy?" I asked with a forced laugh.

"Well I want to talk about it; I can't quiet imagine the two of you together, no matter how hard I try. But I'm pretty sure the boys are still trying to come to terms that you forgive them, forgive us all for what we did during Thunder Palace. I know it's no big deal for you, but for them, us, it's a huge deal. So they're looks of confused awe, not sympathy."

"Now I'm confused how did we go from talking about my love life, or lack thereof to Thunder Palace?"

"Because you forgave Gajeel enough to date him." Seeing that I still didn't get what the big fuss was about she further explained. "We are all still working through our guilt at different paces, and I think it helped them and me to know that you truly forgave us. It's been so hard when some of the guild, who we've known for years, look at us with suspicion."

"I'm sorry Ever; I didn't know anyone still held it against you guys. Everyone I've talked to hasn't mentioned anything about not trusting you guys. Are you sure their looking at you in suspicion and not trying to come up with a way to approach you guys? You all can be intimidating at times, sitting there surrounded by your 'don't bother us' aura." Putting an arm around her shoulders I gave her an one armed hug. "I'm sure if you approached them, and stopped thinking everyone was judging you guys then things would change. We can try it when we get home. Okay?!"

"You really don't think they've been angry at us this entire time?" Shaking my head emphatically I smiled at her. "Well if that's what you really think then as long as you're there I'm willing to try."

Turning the one armed hug into a full blown hug I squealed, excited for her. "Feeling better about it now?"

"Wait! How did it go from me wanting to comfort you to you comforting me? You really are something else Lucy." Ever said, shaking her head.

Feeling my face heat up, I knew I was blushing at all of praises she had given me. _I really don't see what the big deal is, it's not like I'm doing anything extraordinary like Natsu, who keeps saving me time and time again, or Laxus who took out all of Raven Tail during the Grand Magic Games. I couldn't even close the Eclipse Gate by myself. _Sighing at how far behind in my magic I was in comparison to everyone else I hung my head.

"Lucy are you okay? We don't have to talk about Gajeel if you don't want to."

"No, I'm fine with talking about. I know I shouldn't just bottle everything up, but it's hard to think about how stupid I was when it came to him. I kept my first relationship a secret from the people who mean the most to me and inadvertently hurt them, or am going to, when they find out." Abruptly standing up, and holding out a hand to stop Ever from doing the same, I paced in front of her. "I don't know why I did what I did, but I know I regret not listening to my gut when he first asked to keep our relationship a secret. I don't know maybe I thought it'd be an adventure of sorts, sneaking around hoping no one would catch us. Maybe I thought it would be nice to keep something to myself for once, instead of the whole guild finding out a second after I tell my team. Or that it was nice not having to worry about Mira prematurely planning a wedding after a month of us dating, or planning the number of kids we'd have. All I do know is that while I was that while I was with him, most of our problems melted away and it was like we were the only two in the world, and it was amazing.

"But the moment we were around the guild he would act like we hadn't just spent the night under the stars, or that we hadn't just gotten back from a day at the beach. It was like for him our relationship ended the moment we stepped back into Magnolia, and each time I could feel the change in him and my good mood would disappear in an instant. Because the moment we were both back in the guild he'd go running to her, and act as if I didn't exist. And each time it killed me inside.

"That's why I stopped hanging around the guild during most of my free time, and why I tried to get Team Natsu to go on more jobs, so I wouldn't accidentally snap and approach him." Throwing my hands in the air in frustration at how I had to restrain myself every time I was at the guild I flopped back down into my seat beside Ever. "After four misery filled months with a smatter of happy times, I had reached my breaking point and broke up with him. Even after he apologized, promised for the millionth time that things would get better and said he loved me, I knew I couldn't stay with him, not after he confessed that he had been confused about his feelings for the two of us. Oh I was tempted when he said those three words I had dreamed of hearing, but I knew I'd always question the timing of his confession.

"How would I know that he truly loved me, and wasn't just choosing me because Levy had Jet now? And how could I ignore all of the pain he had put me through, and make it disappear without thinking through everything first? I couldn't know for sure that he had chosen me for me, nor could I know if I would be able to forget about all of our hardships without some time away from him. So I did one of the hardest things I ever had to do, and ripped my own heart out in the process.

"Everyone talks about how wonderful it is to be in love, but they never talk about the pain you can go through before you find that love. I wish I had known before, and then maybe it wouldn't hurt quite as much." I finished with a sob, quickly covering my mouth so Ever wouldn't hear my melt down, but I knew I had failed when I felt her arms surround me, one of them guiding my head to her bare shoulder.

**Evergreen POV **

Lucy cried for a good five minutes before she conked out on my shoulder, breathing heavily. Although we hadn't been sleeping in the same room for the past several nights, mine was always next to hers and I heard her tossing and turning throughout the night, muttering incomprehensible things through the night. When I had went to see if she was ready this morning I had caught a glimpse of the bags under her eyes but when she came out of the room a few minutes later all traces of her sleepless nights were gone and she had put on her cheery face, greeting everyone with her normal radiant smile. It was no wonder the boys and I couldn't stop ourselves from staring at her when we thought she wasn't looking, no matter how many times Laxus had told us to stop. How she was capable of hiding how much she was hurting was beyond me, but I admired her for it.

Hearing footsteps approaching I lifted my head up off of Lucy's and looked towards the intruder. Putting a finger to my lips I mouthed Bickslow to talk quietly, including his babies. Nodding his head in understanding he sent his babies away, back to his room I assumed, and crept further inside Lucy's room. Gingerly picking up one of the chairs from the table he brought it over and put it directly in front of me, so our knees were touching. Leaning forward he spoke. "Is she okay?"

Turning my hand side to side I released a small sigh and whispered. "No, she's trying to hide how much pain she's in, and how tired she is that she hasn't even had time to think about what has happened. At this rate she won't get very far in the moving on process and with us meeting up with the first noble house in two days, I doubt things will get better for her."

"Is there anything we can do to help Cosplayer?"

"I don't know. Avoiding the subject is a definite no; she needs to feel like she can talk to us… all of us, not just Laxus and I. Until she returns to her team back at Fairy Tail we are the closest thing she has to a support system other than her spirits.

"Even though we want her to talk out her feelings, we don't want that to be the only thing she thinks of, so taking her mind off of everything could help her with the breakup and her upcoming role in our mission. So for her free time we can take her out and do something." Shrugging, I grimaced when I felt Lucy move to reposition herself on my shoulder, afraid that I had woken her up.

"We could train her…"

Looking to Freed as he entered the room fully, I cocked my head in question.

"Have you noticed that she hasn't gone on many solo missions since she has joined? And how she never has time to train to strengthen her magic? Her team is always dragging her off on another job or some catastrophe is occurring." Freed brought a chair and placed it next to Bickslow's. "It could be a way to let her release some of her frustration and anger at Gajeel, and the nobles… and it could help rebuild what confidence she lost in the breakup." When we both gave him weird looks, wondering how he had come up with that plan, he cleared his throat and tugged on his collar, trying to distract us from the dusting of red on his cheeks. Shrugging he spoke, even quieter than before. "What? I've been doing some reading."

"That's good Freed." I said lightly brushing his knees with my fingertips.

"Mmm, Gajeel no…" Lucy muttered in her sleep suddenly jerking her head off of my shoulder and onto the back of the couch.

"And if that bastard shows up…"

"…we'll beat the shit out of him." Laxus finished, getting nods of agreement from us all.

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**AN: Let me know what you thought, please and thank you! 3**

**SeleneJade: **Yay! =]

**PrettyStarsInTheSky: **Thanks! J

**Kurahieiritr JIO:** Yes her job definitely sucks, but I have a plan in mind to make it not suck as much…hopefully. I liked writing Evergreen's reaction to Lucys abject horror at socializing with the nobles, and how Freed understood Lucy's reluctance to do it. =]

**Cow-Lover2214: **Haha it is completely possible that Freed is jealous. Hopefully I can make a decision on who she will end up with soon!

**Guest:** Sorry that it's getting so dramatic? Lol I don't know if that's good or bad, but oh well. Yes she does seem to attract Dragon Slayers doesn't she? ;)

**kamy4: **will do. =]

**leoslady4ever: **It will definitely suck for her and make handling the breakup even more difficult but she has a new support system that will help her through it all!


	8. Chapter 8

**An: Yay! 100 followers! Thanks to everyone who has followed, favored, read and reviewed! I appreciate every bit of support you've all given me! **

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**Lucy's POV**

"Ow!"

"Lucy hold still damn it!" Ever laughed as she dragged my head back into place and resumed her attack. "How does Cancer put up with you? You're like Auska, always squirming and impatient for it to be done."

Huffing, I crossed my arms over my bra clad chest and stuck my tongue out at her through the mirror. Receiving one in return I laughed. "Excuse me! Cancer loves doing my hair, and has never complained about me! But then again Cancer literally takes a minute to do my hair, and he never pulls it so hard, or accidentally burns my scalp when he hot irons it."

"Okay done!" She said putting the last curl in place and taking a step away from me to look at her work.

I had planned on summoning Cancer to help me get ready for tonight, as I always did, but Ever had wanted to do my hair and make up, so taking a risk I agreed. That was two hours ago. After the first ten minutes I knew I had begun squirming, not used to it taking so long, and regretted not calling out Cancer. But seeing how I looked now, ever painful minute had been worth it.

She had waxed and tweezed my eyebrows into what she deemed the 'proper shape' before she assaulted my face with a ton of make up. I had been worried at first but after changing my make up at least four times, she learned that less was more. Each time she finished one style we would both look in the mirror knowing that something wasn't right; it just wasn't me. After that debacle she had moved on to my hair, wanting to try something new. She had yet to see my hair when it was curled so she decided that, that would be her project for the night. It was like going to a spa, she washed and rinsed my hair before drying it and adding in the multitude of products to it so it wouldn't frizz out, or stray from its desired design. I sat there talking to her one minute and cursing at her the next. I wasn't used to other people doing my hair, not since mama died. Cancer was the exception. He was a master at doing my hair, knowing what i liked and did it without causing me any pain. But I had to admit hanging out with Ever had been fun.

"Well do you like it?" Still looking at my hair in amazement I just nodded. She had pulled my hair up into a clip and draped the now curly hair over it, letting the ends brush my neck. Adding a little extra she had surprised me with little gold star pins to help keep my hair in place.

"It's perfect and I love the pins. Thank you!" I said hugging her tight. "I wish you could come with me. This is going to be hell no matter how lavish it is."

"Don't worry you'll be gone for a few hours and you'll be back in no time. Keep a mental record of the night so you can tell me everything!"

_Evergreen should be the one going. She'd enjoy it more anyways. I could have given her some quick lessons and we all would have been happy but the princess had refused, confused as to why I had left this life and thinking this was a great way for me to be reintroduced into society. I didn't have the heart to tell her that if be miserable every night. It wasn't my place anyhow, she was paying up to protect her and we had accepted the job._

Walking to the bed where the gown we had picked out earlier I threw the corset that I had been provided across the room and grabbed the one Virgo had made for me. The one I had discarded was unbearably uncomfortable. I had gone so long without using one that I didn't know if I could go all night without fidgeting let alone protect the princess. When I had tried the whole thing on earlier Virgo had seen how uncomfortable I had been, and offered to make one for me, and I wasn't disappointed. It had done its job but still allowed me to breath, it also was made of more pliable material allowing me to move around freely, which was more important that appearances just in case someone planned on attacking.

Slipping on the royal blue dress with gold swirls encasing the bodice, I walked to the mirror and examined it to make she there were no bulges on the sides. In addition to making me a new corset, Virgo had also taken every dress I was to wear and tweaked it so I could hide my keys. She added a hidden pocket on both sides, each one housing smaller pockets for all of my keys to rest. The right pocket held all ten of my Zodiac keys while the left had all of my five, well six - I hadn't had time to make a contract with the one I had bought earlier, Laxus was too determined to plan out every little detail of the trip and go through worst case scenarios- silver keys. Luckily I already knew each key by touch otherwise I'd have to pick one at random during the middle of battle. As for my whip, we had decided that the handle looked nice enough that I could hold it out in plain site, pretending it was a receptacle. It wouldn't be entirely inconspicuous, but I knew that no one could politely ask to see it without insulting me or the princess; going through another's purse was not acceptable and perceived as an insult, saying that you didn't trust the person.

"You look amazing Lucy!"

"Thanks Ever. " I said sending her a smile. "Okay I guess that's it..."

"It won't be that bad, it's only a little dinner with five maybe 6 people." Ever consoled, walking me down the stairs of our hotel and to the front door where the carriages awaited.

"Yeah I know. You have a fun night too. Relax and torture the boys mercilessly."

"Hahaha don't I always?" Waving as I walked out of the hotel and to one of the carriages I wondered where the guys were, and was disappointed that they hadn't come to see me off. _Pshh what was I saying? I'd see them in a few hours, it was no big deal..._ Sighing I placed my hand in the footman's as he helped me into the shiny black carriage with the crest of Fiore on the doors.

"Lucy you look wonderful! I'm so glad you liked the dresses I had picked out for you! Isn't this exciting? This is the first time since the Grand Magic Games that my father has let me out of the castle to socialize. He was extremely disappointed in me for building the Eclipse Gate without his knowledge, he had essentially put me under house arrest."

"Mhmm." I said distractedly looking out the window for the guys.

"Lucy are you okay? Hello?" She said waving a hand in front of my face.

"Oh yeah sorry. Just wanted to make sure I didn't miss the guys." Looking at her I smiled and saw her concern disappear.

"Don't worry about them. Their probably enjoying their day off. You'll see them in the morning when we go hunting with the Ueda's. Did you read the file I gave to you about them?"

Sighing I recalled every boring word I had read regarding the family who owned the largest rice field in Fiore. "Yes I did read it. The family was one of the first to settle in Fiore after it had been established. They have been extremely loyal to the crown, in other words your father, throughout his entire reign. Unlike most of the other nobles they have no problem with your upcoming nuptials, in fact they are excited to see that you have found someone you truly love. Edward, the current head of the family is married to Ana, who is a very distant relative to Bosco's royalty. They have two children, one daughter and one son. Russell, their oldest is several years older than us while their daughter Cassandra is our age. Both will be in attendance tonight, considering you all see each other as family, rather than friends."

"Very go-"

"I took the liberty of running a deeper background of them while we were traveling. Although they are nobles they do not hate magic, and in fact have welcome it ever since Cassandra started showing signs of magic at the young age of eight. They have hired private tutors for her since then so she could learn to control it, and hide it if the need ever arose. Due to their station Cassandra is unable to join the guild of her choice, but she is able to visit them under the guise of 'keeping them in check'. Russell who loves his sister dearly plays the role of ambassador between the nobles, listening for any hint that their secret has been leaked, and silencing it if there is any whisper of it. He, like is parents show no magical capability, but he has studied it intensively to try and help his sister."

"How...?" Hisui whispered stunned.

"My mother made sure I had all the information I would ever need on everyone who she considered a threat. So she gave her own research to one of her spirits who was passed down to me. I promise not to tell anyone what I know. I just needed all of the facts." I shrugged.

"So you have files on all of the families we will be seeing?"

"Yeah, but yours are more up to date, so I went off of both of them and then did some extra research."

"Well at least I know you're taking the job seriously right?" Hisui laughed.

"I always took it seriously. I am your friend, so your safety matters to me, and I'm honored that I get to attend your wedding." It didn't take long for us to get to the house, but by the noise coming from the mansion there were more than the intimate party that we had been expecting.

"Okay Hisui, like when we are on the road, if I say run you run, no hesitation. Run to your nearest guard and lock yourselves in the closest, unexposed room. Did you know that there would be a full blown party tonight? Never mind." I sighed when I saw the guilty look on her face. "Stay within sight, and in the middle of the crowd. Don't leave without me or your guards by your side."

"Lucy I'm sorry, I just thought it'd be a nice surprise for you."

"There's a reason I left this life so long ago, Princess." I said without looking at her, my tone of voice clearly telling her how annoyed I was at the situation, and at having been misled. Stepping out of the carriage, I waited patiently for the Princess to exit and walked behind her as we entered the mansion.

"Oh the Princess is here!" I heard someone shout in excitement as everyone toned it down to hushed whispers.

"Who's that with her?"

"She looks familiar..."

The man who was waiting at the top of the stairs to announce the guests cleared his throat loudly, and put up his hand to silence everyone. Once everything was quiet he spoke "It is my honor to announce, Her Highness, Hisui, Princess of Fiore and her companion Lady Lucy Heartfilia."

"A Heartfilia? I thought that line died with Jude."

"How'd she get close enough to the Princess to travel with her until her wedding?"

"I heard she disgraced her father by running away and breaking her betrothal."

Hearing the various whispers of the women I donned my mask of indifference. Descending the stairs into the crowed we were instantly surrounded as the royal guards fanned the room, making sure they could keep eyes on Hisui at all times.

Making note of all of the exits I nodded and smiled in greeting to everyone who welcomed us. When the sea of people parted, the four people we were initially supposed to be having dinner with tonight greeted us and were genuinely happy to see us and glared at anyone who they heard whispering about me. _I liked them already._

Once all the greetings were done Cassandra dragged the princess away to her group of friends. Keeping an eye on her I milled around until I found an empty table and sat down. _Alone at last._ I thought, watching the musicians start up again and several couples began dancing again.

"So I heard you ran away when your father told you of your engagement to the Junelle's eldest son." A girl said as she and a group of her friends sat down at my table. "Why you wouldn't want to marry him is beyond me. He is absolutely delicious."

"Annette, Lizzie, Michelle and Janice, right?" I said as I pointed to each girl I had deemed a bitch when I had arrived. There wasn't a single thing unique about them, they all had the same hair color, same style of dress and wore about the same amount of make up. It was awful really, they were trying so hard to make it seem like they belonged here, when in reality they couldn't be any richer than I was at the moment, not with the amount of cheap jewelry they were wearing and the smell of their second rate perfume. "Oh no. That was just a rumor they started when we refused their proposal. My father, he only wanted what was best for me, and when he saw I was unhappy at home he sent me aboard to study and travel, like I wanted. Although daddy never told me of his financial state otherwise I would have come home earlier, same with his illness. I heard too late to come back and be with him." I said regretfully._ That had been the hardest part of coming back after the seven year gap. I had hoped to reacquaint myself with my father, and bridge the gap he had created between the two of us, but I hat returned too late. _

"Well I hear Adrian is still hung up on you. I bet he'll try to rekindle some sort of relationship with you when he hears you're back. Wouldn't that be nice?" Lizzie said wistfully.

"Well I'm afraid I couldn't do that-"

"Now whys that? He owns your mansion and belongs to one of the most prominent families in Fiore." The Annette, who seemed to be the leader of their little group asked.

"Because-"

"She's already engaged." A familiar voice said from behind me. _What is he thinking!? How is he here? The king is going to kill us._ Turning to face my 'fiance' I forced myself to relax in his embrace as he helped me stand up and brought his mouth to my ear. "Play along."

Returning his hug and turning back to the group of women who were openly staring, I introduced him. "Everyone this is La-Lance, my betrothed."

"If you'll excuse us ladies, I believe I owe Lucy here a dance." Laxus said before placing my hand on his arm and twirling me onto the dance floor. Making it so we were a hair-width away from each other he spoke quietly so only I could hear him. "Surprised?"

"Is that why you three weren't there to see me off?" I said looking up at his face, just now noticing that his scar was gone. "You're scar..." I said bringing on hand to right underneath his eye, running my fingertips across his skin. Feeling the scar, but not seeing it I was confused. Realizing what I had just done I withdrew my hand as I felt a faint blush make its way across my cheeks. "Sorry."

"Yeah. Freed explained why you were so upset about the arrangements, so it was his idea that one of us should tag along and make it a little more bearable." Guiding me with his hand that was on the small of my back we danced away from the prying eyes of the ladies, moving closer to the open garden door. "While you and Ever were putting all of that crap on your face and hair, we were trying to decided who would play your beloved fiance." He said with a deep chuckle, the vibration of his laughter transferring to me since we were so close. When he stopped dancing suddenly, I eyed him quizzically until he led me out of the crowded room and into the garden where it was much quieter.

Looking back into the room I tried to go back in, "the princess-"

"Taken care of."

Following the trail further into the gardens I gazed up at the stars. "Aren't they beautiful? Looking at them always soothes my nerves." I asked not expecting to be answered. " Thanks for getting me out of there Laxus.

"So how did you guys decide it should be you who got the pleasure of these torturous events?"

"Honestly Freed was the one I voted on but he's well known in these circles, especially since he has ties to magic. So we didn't want to blow your cover in addition to his so he was out. Obviously Bickslow couldn't come because of his tattoo on his face, so that just left me. And here I am." Laxus shrugged stopping to sit at a bench. "After we had decided that I'd have to go, Bickslow pointed out that my scar was a dead give away to who I was. With a few runes from Freed we were able to hide it. Yeah I know, if Freed could hide my scar, why not Bicks' tattoo; something about it being too big, or some bullshit like that. So you're stuck with me."

"Well I appreciate it, a lot. And to be honest I'm glad it was you that came. Freed and bickslow are nice and I like spending time with them, it's just that I feel closer to you and Ever. I don't know why that is considering I haven't really spoken to you since the train and even then I mainly cried, but that's how I feel; I feel safe with you. Ha ha. Sorry that sounded weird." Seeing him tense I bumped his shoulder, "you know if this becomes too much for you, at any point, let me know and we can stage a huge break up, with slaps, tears and more drama than you can handle. Then you can leave and I'll pick up the pieces, either way it'll stop people from match-making."

"Heh I might take you up on that if those mothers try to set me up with their airhead daughters."

"Ha they ar-" I shut up when he tilted his head in the direction of the mansion, before taking off. A second later I heard screams and a big crash of glass. Already running after Laxus, I curse when my heel caught on a stray root. Hoping on one foot as I tore off my heels and continued running unhindered. By the time I had made my way out of the gardens and up the stairs to the deck, Laxus was already taking on several people who were dressed in all black, their faces included, as the royal guards closed in on them.

"Miss Lucy I'm glad you're alright." One of the guards said as I bumped into him.

"Don't attack him" I said pointing to Laxus, "he's with me." When he nodded I looked around to find Hisui. "Where's the princess?"

"I thought she was with you."

"What no! You guys were supposed to be watching her."

"Well if that's so I'm sure she's with one of the others."

"I'll go look for her, detain them once he knocks them out." Turning to leave I reached for the nearest party guest. "Have you seen the princess?"

"Wha-what?"

"The princess have you seen her?"

"No. She got lost in the crowd somewhere."

Walking away from her in disgust I asked the next person over who didn't look quite as terrified. "Have you seen the princess?"

"Sh-she went that way." He said pointing to the stairs. Thanking him I bypassed the fight and ran up the stairs.

"Hisui! Are you here?" Opening and closing the door that held nothing but furniture I heard a muffled scream coming from down the hall. The scream was cut off and in its stead came a whimper.

"Quiet bitch. I won't tell you again." Determining what room the voices had come from I quietly enter the room next to it. Judging by the conversation going on between whispered voices I guessed that there were three people in there, not including Hisui. Summoning Virgo, I placed a hand over her mouth before she could ask for her punishment. When my hand covered her mouth her eyes went wide and twinkled in anticipation.

"No punishment today Virgo. Can you silently make a hole between the two bathrooms for me?" I asked, not all that surprised that she was disappointed at not getting punished. Nodding her head I released her and watched as she walked away.

Pressing my ear against the wall I listened to the kidnappers conversation. They were talking about the monster downstairs that was wailing on half of their team and how they were supposed to get out of this unscathed and with the princess in tow. One idiot suggested throwing the mattress out the window then jumping onto it and received a head smack for his efforts. _Good thing we're on the third floor._ I thought as the image of Hisui being tossed out the window rushed through my head. Feeling a hand on my shoulder I turned around, completely freaked. "Oh Virgo you scared me."

"Punishment?" She whispered excitedly.

"No punishment. Did you finish the hole?"

"Yes princess, it leads to their bathtub, and the curtains are closed."

"Perfect, thank you Virgo!" I said before closing her gate. Tiptoeing through to the bathroom I eased myself through the hole in the wall and stepped into the tub.

"Just stay quiet! I gotta take a piss." One of them whispered loudly before locking the bathroom door. Quickly laying down in the tub so he couldn't see my figure through the shower curtain I laid there wishing he'd hurry up.

I was horrified when I heard his pants hit the floor before he plopped down on the toilet seat and began grunting. _I thought you said you had to pee!_ I thought as I silently gagged as the smell wafted up my nose. Covering both my nose and mouth with my hands I tried to breath as shallowly and quietly as I could.

When he was finally done, I was even more disgusted when he didn't even flush or wash his hands. summoning Aries and Lole into the smelly room I shushed them. "I know, I'm sorry it smells but Aries can you peek through the door and put a who'll wall around the princess and then another one around the room? And Loke once the princess is safely surrounded, we'll deal with the three - don't let any of them touch you... I don't know who it was but he didn't wash his hands."Both of them shuddered in disgust at that before Aries did as I asked.

"What the hell? Where did this pink shit coming from?"

"Thanks Aries you stay here, I'll bring the Princess to you to look after." Turning to Loke I prepared my whip. Nodding to him he burst through the bathroom door with his 'Regulas punch' knocking back the one closest to the bathroom door into the other two. As usual they perceived Loke as the main threat and converged on him, completely ignoring my presence. "I got this Lucy," he said dodging two fists as he turned to look at me and nod to the pink mass on the bed.

Rushing to the bed I reached in the wool wall and yanked the princess out, moving to the side just as an arm tried to claw my face. "Hisui, it's me. Stop it!" I hissed when one of her nails caught my cheek.

"Lucy! I'm so-sorry, I thought you were one of them." She cried, as she lightly touched my now bleeding cheek.

"It's fine. We got to get you out of here." Dragging her across the room with the wool wall to our backs I shoved her into the bathroom before shutting the door. "Keep her safe Aries!"

With her out of the way I was finally able to take in the three guys who surprisingly had on the royal guard uniform. _W__hat...?_

Flicking my wrist I caught one of their fists as he tried to attack Loke while his back was turned and slammed h into the ground. Keeping a hold on him as he struggled to stand up I 'Lucy kicked' him in the head and discarded his unconscious body in the corner of the room.

"Bitch! How dare you do that to Mike." One of them said as he rushed me and slammed me to the ground. Struggling for dominance in a ball gown wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be. The various layers of the dress kept tangling up around our legs as we rolled around, distracting the both of us.

Taking advantage of the dresser we had rolled into I shoved his head into the corner of it right before I was yanked to my feet. Coming up fighting I stopped when I saw that it was Loke holding onto me. "Thanks."

"Anything for you." He said smiling before trying to take advantage of the situation and trying to kiss me.

"Force gate closure." I said before his lips could reach mine.

Since the three of them weren't mages I used the rope tassels from the curtains and tied them all together before knocking on the bathroom door. "It's safe to come out now. Aries can you recall your wool? I don't want to leave any trace of magic behind."

"I-I'm sorry" she whispered before sticking out her hands and getting rid of her pink wool.

"Thanks Aries, you can go now." I said waving to her as she left.

"Lucy, your cheek-"

"It's alright. How are you? Did they hurt you?" I asked brushing away her hand.

"No, they just tore my dress in a couple of places when I struggled to get away."

"Do you recognize them? They're in the royal uniform."

Getting a good look at their faces as I lifted their heads up she gasped. "They're from my old guard unit. Daddy let them go around three months ago, one of his guards overheard them talk bad about our engagement and call me some things they have yet to tell me."

Putting a soothing arm around her I sat her down on the bed and went about checking the windows and door to make sure they were locked.

"Princess! Princess Hisui!" I heard shouted in the hallway as the thundering of ironclad footsteps sounded. When they got to our door after searching the other rooms I urged the Princess behind me and backed us in the furthest corner. "Are you in there Princess?"

"The Princess is safe, but I need for everyone except the captain to back away from the door so I can let him in." I shouted.

Waiting until the shuffling was done I picked up one of the discarded swords from the fake guards and handed it to Hisui before going to the door. "Lucy is that you?"

"Yeah Miles it is. I'm gonna open the door to let you in but that's it." Doing so I shut the door before anyone else could see inside and locked it. "What's going on Lucy?"

"I don't know. All I know is that these three and the four downstairs had a plan to kidnap the princess, and that these three used to be her guards. I didn't want the guests or others to see that their in the royal outfit, so that's why I only let you in, along with the fact I don't know if anyone else was in on it."

"Good thinking." He mumbled examining the three. "Well this is a cluster fuck."

"I know. We just need to get the princess into her father's care and decide what we should do with these guys."

"I can help with that Princess." Virgo said from beside me. Holding out a staying hand to the captain as he reached to his sword I looked to my spirit. "I have brought clothes for those three, and will take the clothes they are wearing with me so no one will know how they got past the guards."

"That's...a wonderful idea Virgo, thanks!"

"Punis-"

"No." I said with a light blush as the captain eyed the two of us. Shoving the clothes into his chest I left him and Virgo to it as the Princess and I turned away from the scene.

Once the clothes had been switched Virgo went back to the Spirit World, Mike let in his men and they took care of the would-be kidnappers as I led the Princess out of the room. We ignored everyone's questions as we were hustled out of the mansion and to the waiting carriages. Entering in the one we had arrived in I was pleasantly surprised to see Laxus waiting for us. "You alright Lucy?" he asked when he saw me freeze.

"Yeah, just glad to see you're alright."

"As if a couple of magic-less idiots could hurt me."

"Fine, next time I won't worry at all." I said settling in as the carriage left.

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**An: Hey guys! Let me know what you thought of the chapter, please and thank you!**

**FW Wandering: It is odd isn't it? ;) **

**OgaxHilda: Haha, yeah but then again Lucy only wants everyone else to be happy. But I haven't decided yet on who she is going to end up with. Sorry for making you hate Gajeel!**

**Daddys little crazy bitch: :)**

**Cow-Lover2214: Haha that would be awesome, but it's not gonna happen in this fic. **

**GingerLily01: I'm glad you think so! :)**

**kurahieiritr JIO: Thanks! I'm loving the whole Evergreen and Lucy friendship! Laxus would definitely kick Gajeel's ass if they ever get the chance!**

**kamy4: Hope you liked this chapter, I added the fight scene with you in mind. ;)**

**O: I would love a galu but I can't come up with a way for Lucy to forgive him. **

**Grin like the Cheshire Cat: Haha, he is my second choice! **

**rrrrRANDOMmm: I can't either which makes it hard for me to figure out a way he can make it up to Lucy, but it's a challenge I'm trying to overcome! **

**Jessica Phantomhive: Haha i'm glad you like them! Don't be sad they are still on going and I don't plan on stopping until they are finished. Even then I have a couple more ideas for fics! **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Sorry for all of the errors in the last chapter! I didn't notice them until a few days after I had posted it! I hope I did better this chapter. For some reason the past couple of weeks I have been writing my chapters on my phone and it doesn't catch anywhere near the amount of mistakes the computer does. :[ Guess I'll just have to start using one of my new notebooks! **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry that it took so long to get out, been busy. This chapter is extra long so hopefully that makes up for the wait! **

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**Gajeel's POV  
**

"Rust Bucket get back here!" Gray yelled from behind me as I ran through town, intent on leaving to find Lucy. It had been four days since Bunny had left, and only one day since the masochistic maid had let me go, after the Lion had ordered her to do so.

"Go to hell!" I shouted, jumping onto one of the nearby buildings as he covered the street in a sheet of ice. Powering through the pain of where the restraints had cut my ankles I jumped to another building when I heard swords whizzing through the air towards me. _Damn it! Don't they want to bring her back?_ Jumping up and turning my head in their direction I released an 'Iron Dragon's Roar' somewhere in their vicinity, hoping that it would slow them down and distract them. It was a good thing that it was the middle of the night and no one was here to witness our fight, and my escape.

Landing on the ice-free street I sped up and cleared the town. Not hearing noises around me besides the animals in the forest, I slowed down a bit and stopped after I was several miles out of town. Leaning against a tree I sat down and wiped the sweat and blood out of my eyes. _Damn demon. _I thought as I passed over a nasty gash on my head from when I had snuck behind the bar to get the request book. It had been easy enough to find Bunny's job, considering no one had left the guild in hopes of seeing what I'd do and what Team Natsu would do. The Card Mage even had a bet going on, to see how long it would take for me to realize I wasn't going anywhere without Team Natsu at my side. _Guess I proved them wrong. _"Gi Hi"

"What'cha laughing about Gajeel?" Natsu growled, dropping down from the tree I had been leaning against. "Do you think it's funny what you did to Lucy? Do you want to hurt her some more, would that make you feel better about yourself?" Covering his fist with flames he moved to punch me, dodging his fist, I didn't notice that, that was what he wanted me to do until I felt his Dragon's Roar hit me dead on. Flying through the trees I flipped over and landed on my feet, skidding to a stop.

"I'm going to apologize to her. It ain't your business anyhow." Seeing a flash of pink to my right I shouted "Iron Dragon's Club" and landed a hit... on a tree. I was mid turn when I felt a fist hit my cheek, sending me back even further.

"Ignoring her wishes isn't going to do her any good."

"You're one to talk! You invade her apartment all the time!" I said getting up, and facing him.

"Have I ever hurt her before? No. Have I cheated on her? No. Did I break her heart? No!" With each question he moved faster than I had ever seen him move and he landed a punch with each no. "Lucy was crying, I heard each sob as I stood outside the bar. Lucy, has only cried that hard twice since I met her. Once when she found out her father had died while we were asleep for those seven years and the other when she was apologizing to her mother at her grave for neglecting her 'little sister'. Both times something inside of her broke.

"She gave you something precious, and you took it and stomped on it. I'll protect her from you, with everything I have, because you don't deserve her." Natsu said, standing over me, dragon scales visible on his skin, and smoke streaming out of his mouth with each breath he took.

Staring at him I felt something I hadn't felt since Acnologia attacked us, fear. _I wasn't afraid of the Flaming Idiot. I was afraid of what I had done to Lucy. Had I really broken a part of her, the same part that housed her mother and father? I didn't even it was possible for me to could touch that part of her, let alone have a place there. Natsu was right...I didn't deserve her. "I'd do anything to fix things between us because I really do love her."_

_"_If you really want to fix things, then stay away from her. Give her the space she wants and let her think it all over." Erza said, emerging from the trees with Gray.

"Knowing her, she'll forgive you eventually. But it might not be in the way you want." Gray said, offering me a hand to stand up.

Suspiciously looking at his hand before taking it I was stunned when he let me lean on him and put my arm around his shoulders. No longer covered in flames Natsu joined Gray on the other side of me and hoisted me up off the ground.

"Although we are beyond pissed at how you treated Lucy, we're still nakama Gajeel, we won't just leave you here to rot." Erza said, leading the way back into town that was surprisingly close.

"Was your plan to knock him around until you reached town Flame Brain?" Gray chuckled.

Sputtering, I growled at the pinkette as he used his free hand to scratch the back of his head. "Uh... yeah, I guess. It seemed like a good plan at the time." He answered with a cheeky grin. Smacking him upside the head, I hissed in pain when he jerked away, jarring my injuries.

"Natsu..." Erza snarled.

"What I didn't start it!" He whined, returning to his position at my side, grumbling about how scary Erza was still better than scary Lucy.

_I promise Bunny, I'll find some way to make it up to you. _I thought at the mention of her.

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**Lucy's POV**

"What the hell happened Edward? I leave my daughter in your care and there's a kidnap attempt? What kind of people are you letting run around your estate?" Watching as the short King's face turned red in anger I was shocked that this was the same person who had hosted the Games earlier. _It's like he's a completely different person. _

Hisui tried to calm her father down with a hand on his shoulder but he just shrugged it off and continued to glare at his pale, apologetic friend. "Daddy it's not his fault. They were in royal uniform. How was he supposed to know they weren't with us?"

"So you're saying Captain Miles is to blame? He is in charge of the guards after all." The King mused as Edward relaxed a little, glad to not be under scrutiny anymore.

"Your Majesty if I may..." I stepped forward and waited for permission to speak. At his grunt I continued. "I know how difficult this must be for you, and how worried you must have been. But it is my opinion that no one is at fault here besides the princess."

"Now wai-" The King's face became even redder, if that was possible, as the veins in his head bulged out as they pulsed with anger, at having the blame placed on his precious daughter.

"Daddy it's alright, let her continue."

"Her highness and I discussed it at length once we returned to the hotel last night. There was no way we could have properly secured the mansion with so few guards at hand. If we had known about the party ahead of time there would have been at least double the amount of guards than we had. Small details like the amount of people that are present at an event or the location of the event may not seem important to you or the princess but it is extremely important to us guards. We need to know all of the details so we don't put your lives needlessly at risk.

"It came to my attention last night that you had to lay off some of your guards in the last three months, we will need a list of their names, and the reason why they were fired. That way we can assess any further danger from previous guards who know your formations, procedures and habits. We will be tweaking those things too, to further prevent future, successful attacks."

"You want to change formations that have worked for us for the past decade? That's preposterous! After one crisis you think you know everything. I told you Hisui we should have hired the Sabertooth mages!" He shouted glowering at me.

Standing there calmly as the king ranted and raved at my idea I felt movement at my back and gave a slight shake of my head telling Laxus or whoever it was to stay where they were. Further input on our parts would only anger him even more and we'd never see the change we needed.

When King Fiore finally calmed down enough to stop his pacing and wild arm gestures Captain Miles stepped up besides me. "Sire, Miss. Lucy is right. The old formations are over done and leave us vulnerable, especially considering the men who have been fired recently know them like the back of their hands. With your permission I'd like to work with the mages and come up with a better routine for the rest of the trip." It was silent as the King sat there thinking and glaring at us. Sensing that our presence could do no good Hisui walked towards us, with her back to her father so he couldn't see her hands, and gestured us to leave before she turned back around and told him that we would be going horseback riding as planned. Leaving him sputtering to himself and Edward, Hisui closed the sliding living room doors behind us.

"Do you think he'll see reason?" Evergreen asked, walking with us to the front door with Freed and Bickslow beside her.

"Mr. Ueda will talk him into it...eventually. But he knows that Lucy and the captain are right. Captain Miles may be new to his position but he knows what he's doing, more so than his predecessor. His incompetence and his slandering is what led to his termination, I'll make sure he's on the list before you get it."

"Much obliged, Princess. Can you give an estimate of how many will be on the list?"

"Hisui, Freed. You all can call me by name.

"There will probably be around between 25 and 30 people, maybe more. I wasn't with dad when he cut some of them loose so I lost track of how many there were. That's another reason why we wanted to hire mages for this trip...but I never expected there to be any kidnapping attempts to be honest." She sighed.

"That's alright Hisui, now that we know the whole story and there won't be anymore surprise parties everything should be fine from here on out."

"Your right Lucy! Nothing horseback riding and a picnic can't solve. I'll meet you all at the stables. Remember to wear what I laid out for you Laxus, I had one of the maids pick up some more formal clothes for you so you wouldn't have to wear the same thing as last night. It also wouldn't look good for Lucy's betrothed to appear poor." She said with a wave. Watching the bounce in her step as she walked away I was glad last night hadn't scared her too much.

"Betrothed?" Ever asked looking at the two of us.

"Tch. Lucy will explain." Laxus took off in a flash, easily taking the stairs three at a time. Freed and Bickslow followed after him, whispering and laughing about something.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know but don't get off topic, since when is he your fiancé?"

"Since last night." I shrugged but could tell that, that wouldn't be a good enough answer for her. "The guys came up with the plan so I wouldn't be so miserable at the parties, and so I'd have someone to talk to and relax around. It was actually nice, we danced, getting away from some busybodies, then took a stroll in the garden, things I wouldn't have been able to do by myself or without some overly touchy yuppie." Looking around when she gasped I scrunched my nose in confusion when I didn't see anything threatening or startling. Turning to her I saw her mouth agape, as she stared at me from several feet away. "Uhh... Ever is everything alright?"

"La-Laxus danced with you?"

"...yes?"

"That's amazing, he hasn't danced since C- well for a while now. What did you say when you asked him? I've been trying to get him to dance for ages now." Earnestly look into my eyes she waited for an answer.

"I didn't say anything? He's the one who asked me to dance. What's the big deal it was a simply waltz." I shrugged as I continued to walk towards the stable, uncomfortable with the way she was looking at me. _C? Was she gonna say Cana? What does she have to do with him not dancing? No Lucy don't put your nose where it doesn't belong, it's none of your business. You have your own drama to deal with anyways._ "Right!" I said aloud, smacking my fist into my open palm and nodding.

"What was that Lucy?"

"N-nothing!"

Shrugging and muttering that l was acting weird she caught up to me and linked our arms together, propelling us forward. "As I was saying, I wasn't there when it happened but Mira told me when she thought Laxus and I were a thing, since we were always sitting together and going on jobs before the Thunder Legion was formed.

"Back when they were kids, around the time Cana joined, Laxus had the biggest crush on Erza, but was too much of a chicken shit to do anything about it. I think something about how strong she was drew him to her, since his father had just been kicked out by Makarov and he wanted to find someway to get on his father's good side again. In his prepubescent mind finding someone strong to call his own would make up for his "artificial"-" Ever stopped to make quotation marks with her fingers. "-strength. Or some other bullshit his father had engrained in his head.

"Anyways he didn't have the slightest clue how to woo a girl back then so he went to the only other girl his age, Mira. Of course back then she wasn't miss smiles and sunshine like she is now, back the. She was her Satan Soul 24/7, it was a nightmare.

"Deciding to have a little fun with Laxus, Mira convinced him that learning how to dance was the only way to win a girls heart so he practiced daily in private until one day Mira caught him practicing and recorded him. The next day it was broadcasted in the guild for everyone to see, including Erza. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had just been dancing, but the fact that he was also reciting how he would tell Erza how he felt made it ten times worse. It didn't help any that Erza punched him and stormed out of the guild either. But since that day Mira said he refused to dance and no one has seen him do it, even when he was asked by some of the hottest girls in town or some models who decided they needed to have Fiore's number one bachelor as their boyfriend.

"So the fact that he danced with you, even for a couple of minutes is amazing."

"It's probably because I knew nothing about his past, again it didn't mean anything."

"That's what you think Lucy, but something fishy is going on and I'm gonna find out what it is." She vowed with a smile similar to Mira's when she saw one of her ships together.

"There you are! What took you so long Lucy? Wait where's Laxus? We have to go meet up with Cassandra and the dreaded four."

"...what happened to your other friends? How did we end up with them?" I whined, suddenly not looking forward to today.

"Since the kidnapping attempt last night they're worried that there will be another attack, and begged off the picnic, but they will be here for dinner, since we leave so early tomorrow morning."

"I'm sorry, we can do something else?"

"No it's their loss! I love Cassy's horses and the spot we're having lunch is beautiful! It over looks the river and neighboring forest. You'll love it too Lucy! I've had the horses saddled and ready to go. The bigger or the three is Laxus' and the black mare with the white hooves is yours."

"Okay I'll just wait her til Laxus and the guys get here. I'll be with you in a minute." Turning to Evergreen who was shying away from the horses I confirmed our course of action. "Since we're going to be taking a tour of the rice fields you guys will have plenty of time to scope out the picnic sight. Call Laxus on his lacrima to let us know if we need to stall or if the spot isn't secure. Captain Miles will be with us along with five other guards, and five guards will be going with you three. Keep an eye on them, I want to know if we can trust the ones that are here with us."

Bringing her head closer to mine she spoke so softly that I could barely hear her. "You think the people who attacked last night had help?"

Nodding once I walked off to get acquainted with my horse for the day.

**Laxus' POV**

"For the last time it doesn't mean anything!" I roared, in annoyance at the two gossipers who were watching me struggle with the clothes the princess had left out for me. Flinging the yellow vest back on the bed I growled. "Why the hell do people wear so much, just to ride a damn horse?" Hearing Bickslow laugh loudly and Freed fail to cover up his chuckled I glared at them, sorely tempted to shock the laughter out of them. "Instead of laughing at me Freed why don't you help me with all of these buttons, and cuffs."

Within seconds of reaching me, and picking up the various items Freed had them all in place, and was working on straightening out the coat I had clenched in my fist. "This is your fault Laxus, you're the one that came up with the idea for one of us to act as her _boyfriend_, not us."

"Boyfriend, Boyfriend." Bickslow's babies said dancing around my head, further mocking me.

"He's right Laxus-sama, a boyfriend wouldn't be expected to go along on every outing, but now that you upgraded yourself to her betrothed, I'm afraid you are required to go to most things with her. Here." Freed said, standing behind me, helping me into the black coat.

"Tch. Acting as her future husband lets me talk to her in private, whereas we'd have to stay in view of everyone else if I said I was merely her boyfriend, or courting her. You told me that Freed."

"I think you just wanted to spend some more time with Cosplayer." Bicks said letting his tongue hang out of his mouth. Taking the opportunity I sent a small amount of magic his way and zapped him. "'ey! 'hat 'as 'at 'or?!"

"Drop it. We're stuck with it, so accept it already." Checking the mirror to make sure everything was in place and I looked 'presentable' I left the room and made my way down the stairs. _Horses, why does it have to be horses? _I thought as I walked closer to the stables, and the rank odor of the manure and the beasts themselves.

"Laxus! Finally, Hisui was getting pretty antsy. This one is yours, ironically his name is Thunder, its a match made in heaven." Lucy giggled, looking down at me from up on her black horse. Looking at the dark grey and white horse that I had to deal with for most of the day, I made short work of getting on it, and gagged as soon as it moved. "You okay Laxus?"

Waving her off I sat up straight and tried to think of something else to get my mind off of the animal. Each sway and jerk of the horse was torture as the three of us made our way to the fields to meet up with rest of our group for the day. Thunder and I were no where close to being in sync with each others movements, and it made the ride that much worse. I was near hurling when I noticed that I was lagging behind. Kicking the horses sides to speed up, I nearly fell off until Lucy appeared and took the reigns from my hands and slowed us down to a stop. Waving to the royal guards to take our place, and watch over the princess for a moment, Lucy waited until they were some thirty feet away before turning in her saddle to get a good look at me.

When I saw her look of pity I growled and tried to yank the reigns away from her, but failed. "...I was wondering why you didn't get sick on the train. Is it just horses or all animals?" She asked, no sign of amusement anywhere on her concerned face.

"I-I don't know. Only been on one animal." I rushed out, closing my mouth as soon as the last word got out. Sliding down off of the horse I stood on the unmoving ground, thankful that my team wasn't here. They didn't know about this weakness of mine, and I preferred to keep it that way, especially with Bicks' annoying tendency to poke fun at me when I ignored him or when he was bored. Hearing a soft thud of her feet hitting the ground, I ignored her presence beside me and focused on breathing.

"Here." She said putting her hand in front of my face and opening it up to reveal a small pill.

"What is it?"

"It's a motion sickness pill that Wendy makes for Natsu...and Gajeel. I don't see why it won't work for you too."

Staring at the pill in reverence I stood to my full height and took the pill. Immediately I felt the kid's magic flow through me, settling my stomach. "Neither of them are here so why do you have them?" I thought looking suspiciously at her. Walking back to her horse she got on and waited for me to do the same. Feeling the horse move beneath me without feeling sick to my stomach was strange. Without the sickness distracting me, I felt the muscles move, and was able to anticipate the Thunder's movement and was able to fall into sync with him.

"...I always carry them. I'm never without either one of them for long, so it's just save to keep them with me at all times." She shrugged. The strength of her voice dwindling down to a whisper, as a wave of sadness rolled off of her. "It's a good thing I had them though, otherwise you'd have passed out by now."

_How did she do that? _I thought as she covered up her sadness, and happiness took over. "Yeah, good thing." I muttered staring at her back. "Have you talked to Flame Brain since we left?"

"...No. I'm afraid that they'll be mad or hurt that I didn't tell them about Gajeel earlier. I want to give them a little more time to cool off before I call them."

"You two haven't been apart this long since you joined the guild. I think he'd be more worried about you rather than pissed."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah."

"If you say so, I'll give him a call tomorrow before we hit the road."

Trotting in silence we caught up with our group, right as they reached the people we were supposed to meet up with. Maneuvering my horse closer to Lucy's I met their probing eyes. As if sensing we had an audience, without looking up, Lucy placed her hand on my knee and patted it. "Be nice Lance, remember we're stuck with them for the rest of the day."

* * *

_Girls... how in the hell did they find so much to talk about? _We spent two hours riding through the fields with each word the girls spoke filling my head. Lucy was the only exception. We had been riding silently behind the group, when the brat of the bunch turned around and ordered Lucy to her side. She was about to refuse when the princess turned around too and pleaded for her to come, pouting when her silent pleas were about to be dismissed. Releasing a huge sigh, she pretended to stab herself in the heart after they had turned back around, when they saw her speed up to catch up with them. Chuckling at her theatrics I quickly shut up when all of the heads turned towards me.

Once Lucy had joined them, I blocked most of their chatter out, and only became interested in the conversation when they mentioned me. Continuing to look out in the fields I pretended I hadn't heard my name being whispered loudly and yawned.

"Lucy you haven't talked much this entire trip." One of the four brunettes whined, the sound of it grating on my nerves.

"Not much to say." She shrugged before returning to her silence.

"Why don't you tell us about your betrothed. Where did he come from? Is his family rich? How did you two meet?"

"No thanks. I'd rather not talk about him while he's right behind us. Besides, it doesn't matter if he's rich, or how we met or where he comes from. As long as we make each other happy, and love each other that's enough for me."

"You can't mean that! How could you survive without money, you'd have to work for a living." Someone scoffed in disdain at the thought.

"True, but I've come to realize that people who don't have money, can be just as happy as people who do."

"What school did you say you went to?"

"I didn't."

"Now see here Heartfilia, you may have been one of the richest families back in the day, but that has changed. You don't even have a family home to return to. So don't act as if your too good to be talking to us."

"Annette, really do you not listen. I couldn't care less if I had a mansion to return to or a rich husband. Since leaving my childhood home I've come to see what really matters to me. I'm not bashing your life style I'm just saying it's not for me." She said with a shrug, waving to me with a smile when she caught me staring at her.

_She meant that, she really didn't care for any of this and was happy at Fairy Tail, always scrounging for rent money, and working all of the time._

"Princess, we've arrived." The captain said, approaching her on foot, with the rest of them guards waiting a few feet away to take their horses and feed them.

One by one they got off and handed over the reigns, Lucy though offered to take care of Ember herself but was shooed away instead as the maid announced that the food was ready. Instead of joining the princess and her friends she walk to me and helped me unsaddle and feed him.

"You've got a way with animals. Though your people skills could use some work." I chuckled.

"Keeping laughing. I don't see you being interrogated." She huffed putting her hand on her hips and pouting.

"Damn right. I'd zap their asses if they cornered me the way they did you." Both of us looked towards the giggling group and then back to each other.

"Want to skip lunch and avoid anymore unwanted questioning?" She asked hopefully and somewhat pleadingly.

"Fine but you'll owe me." I said, taking in all of the delicious smells wafting from the group.

"Yup! I'll definitely make it up to you, now let's go before they call us over." She said hurrying away, following the cliff into a few trees.

Walking just behind her I saw how the farther away we got from the others the more relaxed she got. Her posture slowly became more comfortable looking, no longer did it seem that she had a stick shoved up her ass. And the way she walked even changed. No more dainty footsteps, and I could barely hear her walking on the forest floor. "Where did you learn to walk so quietly?" I asked once I was done watching her and caught up.

"Gajeel. We did a couple of side jobs when we could. He said I walked so loudly that I had scared away all the monsters from the area." Shrugging a small smile sad appeared on her face. "Of course he was joking but when I focused on listening to each sound my steps took I realized he was right. If I could hear it then monsters were able to too. After that we made a game of it, if he could hear me after a couple of steps then I'd have to do something for him, and if I heard him he'd have to do something for me. It took a few months but I finally learned how to walk quietly, with his help and Natsu's of course. It was fun though."

"Sorry for bringing him up again."

"Oh don't be, so many things have a memory of him attached. It's easier to process through them when I have someone who's willing to listen to me reminisce."

_Nothing brings her down for long does it? _I thought my eyes finding their way back to her once again. We walked a few more minutes, still following the cliff's edge when the sound of rushing water slowly increased until it was roaring loud enough for Lucy to hear it too.

"Look at that Laxus! This spot is way better than the other one!" She said running ahead albeit slowly because of the skirts she had been holding up so they wouldn't get dirty. Once she broke through the trees she dropped them and spun around, enjoying the spray of the waterfall that she had found.

I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest as I watched her twirl around, causing her hair to fly free and cascade over her shoulders. The blonde strands twirled in time with her and stuck to her wet face as she laughed.

Reaching into the waterfall she sent a stream of water shooting towards me, soaking my chest and face. Laughing even more, she backed away from me and took off running when I growled. Easily catching up to her I tackled her to the ground, making sure to roll so I'd be the one on the bottom and tickled her. This always worked on Ever, and it certainly worked on Lucy whose laughter filled the canyon as she struggled to get away from me.

"La-Laxus! Haha. Sto-stop! Hahaha" she gasped out. Doing as she asked I released my hold on her, letting her roll on the ground gently. Laying there with her panting beside me, what I had just done suddenly came to me and I tensed.

"Shit Lucy I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked breathlessly turning her head to look at me.

"For that." I said gesturing my hand towards her.

"Don't be Laxus, that's the most fun I've had in awhile. I the hardest I've laughed too." Sighing she closed her eyes and basked in the sun.

Seeing her lay there so open and vulnerable my hand free a mind of its own and reached out to her to brush a few strands of hair away from her face and tucked them behind her ear. At the contact her eyes jerked open and stared at me until I had retracted my hand. We stared at each other for a while longer until I heard rustling in the trees.

"Laxus! Lucy! Where are you? The princess and the others are done with lunch and would like to head out." Someone shouted from inside the trees.

Getting up, I wordlessly gave Lucy a hand and pulled her up before quickly releasing her. _What's the matter with me?_ I thought as I felt my heartbeat still beating faster than it should be.

Brushing ourselves off I was surprised to see that I was merely damp, _how long have we been out here?_ I thought seeing the sun in a different position than it had been when we got here. _At least an hour and a half. _

The trip back to the mansion was made in silence, at least on our parts. But it didn't matter because somehow I did hear a single word the others said as Lucy and I kept giving each other sideways glances.

* * *

**AN: Sooo what did you think? Good, bad, eh? Inquiring minds want to know! Well at least this one does. ;)**

**kamy4: Glad you like it! **

**Cow-Lover2214: It does mean that I chose Laxus out of the three of them. But I still haven't decided if it will be Gajeel or Laxus that ends up with her. **

**kurahieiritr JIO: Thanks! A real engagement would be nice, but I'm still holding out hope that Gajeel wins her back. I initially wrote this with the two of them in mind and was sad to see it slip away from me, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. **

**I love it when Lucy fights, and I wish we got to see more of it. I'm glad you liked the fight scene. I'm still not 100% comfortable writing them, but I try. **

**LittleRed88: Ahhh! The silver key! I keep forgetting about it, just like Lucy. :/ Next chapter I promise I will reveal the key. ;) **

**Yay! I've been worried that I've been too OC with the characters, so I'm glad you think I'm capturing their personality. **

**LoVeStAr14: Haha I think you mean beat the shit out of Gajeel. Although it wasn't the Thunder Legion, I hope you enjoyed Natsu knocking him around abit! **

**If Gajeel and Lucy don't get back together then they will most likely become friends. :) Lucy and Ever are already BFFs so hopefully the others are soon to follow! **


	10. Chapter 10

**An: Chapters might have a longer wait time now. I'm trying to finish my other fic, and was thinking about participating in CoLu week. So bare with me please. **

**Anyways hope you enjoy the chapter. **

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**Lucy POV**

Ever since we returned from our ride out to the cliff, and walk to the waterfall I had been avoiding Laxus, and everyone else. Locking myself in my room I laid on the bed replaying what had happened over and over again. The feel of his calloused fingers brushing against my cheek, sweeping the stray strands away, or the feel of his breath blowing over my face as he hovered over me, or the feel of him tickling me- the memories all brought on a feeling that I hadn't been expecting. It was completely different than the emotion Gray or Natsu's touch invoked, and was closer to the racing of my heart feeling that I felt each time I was near Gajeel. Catching my hand tracing over where Laxus had touched me I began slamming my head back into the pillow. I repeated the action several times before stopping because of the wave of dizziness that passed through me. _No Lucy get that thought out of your head right now. Laxus is just a friend, nothing more. It's too soon to have found someone else anyways. You still have feelings for Gajeel, and part of you still wants him back, and wants to believe that he'll change this time. You don't want to rush into anything anyways, you could wind up getting hurt again. "_I really need to stop having these internal conversations with myself, it's starting to freak me out." Closing my eyes I accidentally dozed off.

At the sound of knocking on my door I sat up in bed abruptly and swung my legs over the edge, letting them dangle while I straightened out my clothes and hair. "One moment!"

"Lucy you're late for dinner." Ever said through the door.

Glancing at the clock on the stand I cursed. "Okay I'll be down in a five minutes!"

Tearing through the closet I chose a modest baby blue dress, nothing like the ball gown I had to wear the night before. It was a floor length empire waist dress with sheer sleeves, perfect for a casual dinner amongst friends, which is what dinner was supposed to be but I had a feeling those four would be dressed to the 'T' in hopes of impressing the royals. Summoning Cancer with a thought I sat still as he did my makeup and hair in record time. Instead of curls we kept my hair straight and pulled it to the side, letting it drape over my right shoulder. Slipping into my shoes as I made it to the door I collided head first into the Dragon Slayer I had been avoiding. "Oh, sorry Laxus." I said pushing off of him and taking several steps back.

Grunting he held out his arm and waited for me to place my hand on it. Gingerly doing so, as if it might bite, I walked in step with him as he guided me down the stairs and into the dinning room. "I'm so sorry. The outing today must have worn me out more than I thought." I said with a small laugh as I sat in the seat between Hisui and Laxus.

The four girls all shared a look before Annette replied. "Yes it did seem like you and Lance were quite exhausted and disheveled after you two disappeared."

Feeling the stares of the King and Uedas I remained composed and tore down down what she was implying. "Yes we found the prettiest waterfall further along the path. The spray of the water felt nice, and I couldn't resist and splashed Lance. Fortunately he wasn't mad and we made a game of it. By the time we had dried off, I didn't realize how much time had passed or how far away it was until we began walking back to you guys."

"I know the place you're talking about, that's my wife and I's favorite spot." Edward said, taking his wife's hand in his as he looked into her eyes lovingly. While they were lost in their memories their kids waved the waiters to bring the food.

Glad that the spot light was off of Laxus and I, I held in a smirk at the annoyed look on Annette's face.

* * *

Stretching out on the seat in the carriage I was extremely glad to see the Ueda mansion become a spec in the distance.

"I don't think I've seen you this relaxed in a couple of days Lucy. You really don't like these social events do you?" Hisui said watching me from across the carriage.

"I honestly don't. In my experience everyone is scheming in one way or another to get ahead in life, and those who are actually decent human beings end up getting hurt. Plus you can never tell when someone is truly your friend without having some alternate agenda.

"It also doesn't help that I have to wear all of these dresses either, or hide my true self. I love my magic and love having the freedom to wear what I want, when I want without people judging me. It's liberating."

"Then that must mean you view me like that too." She said, not looking offended, only thoughtful.

"No, I don't think of you as someone like Annette and her clones. As I said, there are those who aren't backstabbing liars. And I think you and the Ueda's are among those few. I saw how you wanted to help during the dragon attack you even refused to go into hiding and helped with the evacuation. If you were like the dreaded four you would have run for the hills the first change you got."

Nodding her head in thought silence descended as I looked out of the window.

"Oh I meant to talk to you and the others yesterday, but since the kidnapping attempt we've had one family back out. A family emergency suddenly came up and they left their estate. Considering there was supposed to be another, um party daddy and I decided to let it go. So that opens up a couple of days for us, and since we're so close to Fairy Tail-"

"No, we can't go there." I interrupted, before she could finish her offer.

"Okay..."

"Sorry. No one knows what mission we took, and we'd like to keep it that way."

"She's right." Laxus said without looking at us or taking off his sound pods.

"Also if we were to be caught at Fairy Tail, that is well known around Fiore and the neighboring countries then that would put our identities at risk. And warn the enemies that you have employed mages." Freed said, further backing my outburst.

"Well there goes my plan and leaves us with no where to go for four days. Where do you suggest we go then?" She asked, exasperated.

"There's Akane Resort." Evergreen said jokingly.

"Ever... She wasn't being serious Hisui." I said when I saw her actually considering it.

The princess was silent for a minute before she pulled out a lacrima. "Daddy? Fairy Tail won't work but we can go to the nearby resort... Yes I know how expensive that will be... I know, but where else could we go? ...Mhmmm... Really? Thanks daddy!" She said happily before ending the call with her father. "We're a go for Akane resort. I'll call them and let them know we will be there in two days, by then they should have our suite ready."

We all looked at her in shock. _It must be nice having enough money to do whatever you want whenever you feel like it. _I thought, shaking my head and returning my gaze to the passing scenery. _Even when I lived at the Heartfilia Estate I wasn't allowed to buy what I wanted. My dad kept all of our money locked up tight, making it untouchable to everyone but me. _

Once she got over her shock Ever squealed in excitement, after Hisui hung up on the excited resort manager. Both of them got to talking about the things we would do and all of the cute bikinis they could buy while there.

Luckily an hour after Hisui's announcement we stopped so we could switch from the carriages to the private train. With more room, came more places to cover so I offered to patrol the train so I could get some peace and quiet to think and clear my head. Its not that I wasn't happy about our change in plans because I was, but the amount of tension between Laxus and I was stifling. We hadn't spoken a single word to each other since dinner last night and I could tell that the others sensed that something was amiss between the two of us.

After walking back and forth through the train once, I decided to get some exercise in and ran from one end to the other and back again. Panting the whole way, I collapsed in one of the nearby chairs when I was done. Glancing at the clock I saw how long it had taken me to run the five train lengths back and forth once -_ seven minutes... I really need to build up my stamina and speed._ I thought leaning my head back.

"If that small run makes you tired we have our work cut out for us." Laxus scoffed as he walked out of the bathroom.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Catching my breath I glanced at him before feeling my cheeks warm up and quickly looking away.

"It was a group decision that we should train you. No time like the present right?" He said shrugging out of his coat, revealing his bulging arms. Tossing his coat and sound pods on an empty seat he walked closer to me with his palms out. "Punch them as hard as you can."

I looked from his face to his palms, shaking my head, refusing to play his game. "No."

"What you scared?" He teased smirking at me.

"No."

"Don't you want to know how to defend yourself so you don't get kidnapped anymore? How many times has that happened, four... five times?" Laughing he stopped advancing on me and waited.

"Just when I think everyone's wrong about you, you go and act like a total jack-wad." I growled before giving into temptation. "Lucy kick!" I yelled, aiming for his chest instead of his waiting hands.

"That's it. Give it your all." He said, not even moving an inch after catching my foot midair.

Releasing my anger at his earlier comment I wiggled my foot free of his hold and backed away. "Sorry Laxus."

Shrugging off my apology he brought his hands to his side. "It's a sore subject, I know. Why do you think I brought it up? You need hand to hand combat training. What happens if you lose your keys?...and whip." He added when he saw my mouth open to speak. "They can't take away your hands - eh they most likely won't do that; depends on the people."

"Yeah I guess... but Loke and Capricorn tried teaching me, I didn't take to it though." I sighed, ashamed that my own spirits had given up trying to teach me a few months back.

"I've seen the way you treat your spirits. The problem with them trainin' you is that you don't want to hurt them. I'm not sayin' you want to hurt me, but you hurtin' them is the last thing you want to do, even if it's accidental which is why you're holdin' back... Don't deny it, I've seen you 'Lucy Kick' the two idiots on your team more than enough times for doing somethin' stupid, but out of all of the times Loke has popped up while you're taking a bath I have never heard him or you say that you 'Lucy Kicked' him.

"Face it, you're incapable of hurting them."

"..." Thinking about it, I knew he was right. But how did he know that, he'd have to have been watching and listening to catch on to something even I hadn't realized, let alone my team, ex-boyfriend, and spirits. Feeling myself blush I averted my eyes and straightened myself out. "So you'll cover my combat training, what about the others?" I asked curious to what the others could teach me.

"You'll have to ask them, that is if you want to be trained."

"Fine." I said before turning away to continue my patrol.

"Where do you think you're going, we aren't done yet."

"But I have to patrol."

"Dragon Slayer remember? I'll sense it before you, even if you were patrolling."

"Right..." I mumbled to myself, returning to my spot in front of him.

"But... since you're so eager to get moving run to the front of the train and back two more times. You have ten minutes."

"But it took me seven minutes just to run that once!"

"I know." He nodded, still looking at the clock on the wall. "Nine minutes twenty-five seconds. If you're not done in time, you're going to do it again until you successfully do it." I wasted a precious ten seconds gaping at him, before taking off.

It took me three more tires after that to get my time to ten minutes. But that was after much begging and pleading for a bathroom break, where I ignored his growling and rested for a good ten minutes. Because of my ploy, he added on thirty push ups at the end, but I didn't mind those - I had to keep my arm strength up considering I used a whip all of the time, and even had to hang on for dear life on occasion. _He hadn't been expecting that. _I smirked remembering his look of surprise when I finished the push ups without a sweat.

* * *

_"_We're finally here!" Ever said propelling herself off of the train and into the crisp autumn air. Clearing his throat Laxus caught Ever's attention and directed her to go ahead of us and scout out the immediate area for anything suspicious.

It was amazing how good their non-verbal communication was;_ I wish Team Natsu could work together so flawlessly... and without so much destruction. _Jolted out of my thoughts by a hand on my shoulder, I stumbled out of the train behind Hisui and followed her to the desk to get our room keys and passes. Once we got them Laxus and Freed went up to check the rooms before we could leave the lobby. Watching Hisui and Ever thumbing through the latest issue of Sorcerer Weekly through the corner of my eye I tilted my head at Bickslow's inquisitive look.

"Is something wrong Bickslow?"

"What's going on between you and Laxus?"

"N-Nothing." I said unconvincingly since I knew my cheeks bloomed red as the memory of our waterfall encounter flitted through my mind.

"Neither of you are fooling anyone, I hope you know. If you like him so much then do something about it." He said crossing his arms, and waggling his eyebrows at me, indicating that he was thinking something naughty.

Growing redder I thought for a second. "Even if there was something happening, I'm not saying there is, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Gaje-"

"Is a prick for doing what he did."

"I guess, but I'm not any where close to being over him. I still think about him throughout the day, wondering how he's doing, what he's doing and whether or not he's thinking about me as much as I think about him. I know I should be mad, pissed off at how he treated me but all I've been able to think about are all of the good times we had, and how happy I was with him... I-I shouldn't be bothering you with this, sorry Bickslow." I mumbled when I saw him tense up while I was talking.

"Cosplayer I want to know, I wouldn't have said something otherwise. It just pisses me off to think that he could have hurt you so much. Half of the guys in the guild would kill to have you as their girlfriend, and for him to take that for granted..." He trailed off shaking his head.

"Re-really?" Nodding his head I gave him a watery smile. _They were all so nice, how did everyone not see that? _Reaching up I grabbed the edge of his mask and slowly removed it, giving him plenty of time to stop me if I was making him uncomfortable, or if he wanted to keep it on. When he made no move to stop me I pulled it completely off and held it at my side. "That's better." I said smiling at the concern I say in his dark red eyes, before continuing from where I had left off. "Although he did what he did, I can't be mad at him, I love him too much for that. Even though I shouldn't a part of me still wants to be with him, and hopes that this time is different and he will actually change.

"But even if he lets us announce our relationship to the guild, I still won't be comfortable with him hanging out with Levy all of the time. Some part of him wants her... and likes her more than a friend, and it's that part I'm afraid of. What if he decides to choose Levy over me, could I handle seeing them everyday? Or worse what if he chooses me, but hasn't resolved his feelings for Levy? I don't want to tell him not to hang out with Levy, but I don't see a way around it..."

"Hmmm, that is a tough one. But you're thinking more about what he wants rather than what you want and what's best for you. It's not his heart that was broken, so start thinking about yourself instead of him."

"... I guess I could but-"

"No, no second guessing yourself or feeling guilty. You focus on everyone else' happiness to much, it's alright to focus on yourself every so often." Glancing to the stairwell door that opened as Laxus strode through and signaled us that it was all clear, Bickslow took his mask from my hands and gave my hand a squeeze. "He ain't the only slayer that'd be happy to date you. Think about it, Cosplayer." He said putting his mask back in place and catching up with everyone else at the elevators. Filling up the first one with royal guards Ever and Hisui, Bickslow and I waited for the next.

"Think about what?" Laxus asked giving the two of us a strange look as he joined us in the second elevator.

"Just a proposition." Bickslow laughed sticking out his tongue and wagging his eyebrows at me.

"Damn it Bicks, we talked 'bout this. Do what you like as long as it doesn't affect this team, and she's part of the team for now." He said giving Bickslow a stern look. Mockingly saluting Laxus he steped into the elevator doors that had just opened up, pretending to mind his own business but I could tell he was keeping an eye on us.

Looking to from Bickslow to me his shoulders sagged. "I don't know what he said to you, but I'm sorry. Bicks can get out of hand sometimes with his jokes." He said glaring at said mage.

"Bu-"

"Yeah Cosplayer I'm sorry." Bickslow gave me the same stern look Laxus had just given him. Clearly he didn't want our previous conversation repeated.

At a loss for words I watched as Laxus tore through Bickslow for doing something he hadn't done. Placing a staying hand on his shoulder, I felt a shock before quickly removing my hand. "Laxus really, it's alright I know he was joking."

Looking to see if I was truly fine with whatever he thought Bickslow had said to me he stopped his lecture. "If you say so, but if he makes you uncomfortable in anyway just consider any 'Lucy Kicks' you land on him as practice."

Laughing at the Seith Mage's face I walked out of the sliding doors and headed to one of suites we had gotten. Opening the door I was dragged in by an over excited Ever. "You took forever to get here! We're ready to go, hurry up and get your suit on and we can head out together."

"Uh, I didn't bring a suit. What?! Don't look at me like that, formal dinners and protecting the princess rarely calls for swim suits."

"Ugh! We'll have to go buy one then." She sighed looking disappointed at the prospect of shopping.

"No you go ahead, I'll go find one at the shops and meet you all at the big pool. Where'd Hisui go?" I asked not seeing her in the suite anywhere.

"Oh she told us to enjoy ourselves, and that she'd see us tomorrow. She has a lacrima date with her future hubby. Don't worry about security, she promised not to leave her suite, so Freed already put runes around her rooms, plus she has her regular guards." Tossing Laxus and Bickslow their swim trunks she ran out of the room, dragging them along. "We'll be at the deepest part of the pool, you won't be able to miss us."

Closing the door behind them I sprawled out on the couch and pulled out my lacrima to call the guild. "Hey Mira! How's it going?"

"Lucy, it's so good to hear from you. Everything is fine here, we're just missing your smiling face. How's the mission going?"

"It's... it's different than what I expected, but everything is fine. We had a hiccup two days ago, but nothing we couldn't handle. It's different working with these guys, instead of my team... Speaking of my team are they there?" I asked wanting to speak to them and explain why I never told them about Gajeel.

"Erza and Gray are out on a mission but Natsu is here, let me get him for you." She said placing the lacrima down on the desk so all I could see was the ceiling. "Natsu get out here Lu-"

"Lushii?" I heard Happy scream before a blur a blue passed over the lacrima.

"Lucy? Is she back?" Natsu was a second behind his exceed.

"She's on the lacrim-"

Mid-sentence Natsu and Happy's excited faces appeared, only to fall when they got a look at me. "Are you alright Lucy?" Natsu asked, looking concerned.

"Uh, yeah why?"

"You look a little worn out, and like you've lose some weight. Have you been sleeping well and eating enough?"

"Well Happy should be glad, hopefully he'll stop saying I'm too heavy to carry." I said with an annoyed laugh, remembering the last time Happy had complained about my weight.

"I didn't mean it Lucy! Please don't be mad!" Happy wailed, big crocodile tears threatening to spill over.

"I know Happy, don't worry I'm not mad. Why aren't you two on the mission with Gray and Erza?"

"Haha, funny story. You remember when you guys couldn't find us for a couple of hours during the last mission? Well it turns out that the park I chased the bandits in is protected because of the endangered animals that live there. How was I supposed to know it was protected?" Natsu whined when Happy began snickering.

"Natsu, tell me you didn't..."

"I swear I didn't know! I accidentally burned a little part -"

"More like half." Happy interjected, still laughing at Natsu's fearful look he was giving me.

"No, it wasn't half! there was still trees standing on the otherside of the river the fire didn't get that far. Anyways Master and Mira decided it would be best if I stayed at the guild and help Mira around the guild to pay back the fee they wound up paying for me since we got our reward."

"Natsu! How could you think that burning down a forest wasn't a bad thing?" I asked incredulously.

"I was just so mad at what they said that I lost control. But you got your rent money, so it's not all bad."

Sighing I shook my head. "You need to work on your destructive habits."

"The next mission we go on I promise." Natsu said glad I wasn't angry at the new development. He was right I did get my rent, but I felt bad that the animals were out half of their home.

"Anything else I need to know about?"

"Shhh... no we'll ask her when she gets back." Happy whispered, trying to cover Natsu's mouth.

Giving them a suspicious look I sat up on the couch and leaned my elbows on my knees. "Ask me what? Is it about Gajeel, he's the main reason why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for not telling you sooner about our relationship. You're my best friend Natsu and I never wanted to hide it from you, and I shouldn't have... it's just that I wanted to make him happy and not scare him off."

"Lucy we know. Gajeel told us everything. We aren't mad, well we were hurt at first but now we just want you to take all the time you need and do whatever you need to do. Don't worry about Gajeel, we... spoke to him, and he understands that there is no way we'd let him follow you."

"Thanks Natsu." I whispered, surprised that he had taken it so well, and that he had actually thought the situation out and wasn't leading the masses to find me. Hearing a nearby clock chime, I turned away from the lacrima to see that we had been talking for close to an hour. "I have to go Natsu, but I'll call you again soon! Give everyone my love, and feel free to eat the food in my apartment, it'll just go to waste if you don't."

"Thanks Lucy. Be careful." Natsu waved before shutting off the lacrima.

_I miss them terribly, but I'm glad to be away. I never would have gotten to know these four otherwise._

"Princess, brother said you would be needing this." Virgo appeared with a bag in her outstretched hands.

"Oh thanks..." I trailed off when she vanished the second she passed it over. Looking into the bag I pulled out two scraps of fabric and blushed, Loke had picked out a hot pink bikini for me while I was talking to Natsu. It was even the right size...how he knew what size to get me I didn't want to know, and decided it was best to not think about it. Sending him my thanks through his key I stepped into the bathroom and changed before grabbing a dress to put on over it and headed out of the room with my keys in tow, including the suite key.

Following the signs to the indoor water park and giant pool, I window shopped on the way making a mental list of what places I would take Hisui and Ever tomorrow. My nose was glued to one shop's window when I heard familiar laughter coming from a few stores down. Warily turning my head I saw the one person I didn't want to see and Levy together. One minute they were talking and the next Levy threw herself into his arms and wrapped her own around his neck. Feeling the sting of tears, I sniffled, trying to hold them in and backed away from the couple no longer able to see the detail of their faces as the tears gathered. Bumping into a clothes display I cursed when I saw Gajeel's head turn at the noise, right as I decided to book it back to our suite.

"Lucy! I swear it's not what it looks like." Gajeel shouted, after he saw me standing there, looking at him and Levy embracing. Quickly pushing Levy away he ran towards me, stopping my retreat with a hand on my arm.

Facing him, I slowly slid my arm out of his hold, "It's fine really. We did break up after all." I said unable to hold in my sadness I gave him a small smile and waved to my best friend who was left standing where Gajeel had left her. Although Gajeel was happy to see me, Levy didn't share his enthusiasm.

Trying to grab a hold of me again, I avoided his reach and stepped back. "No please believe me. I literally just ran into her. I am on a mission to act as a security detail for some rich snob, I swear I didn't know she'd be here." My facial expression must have expressed my doubt because he growled and ran his hands through his hair. "Damn it! I'm telling you the truth here. I haven't spent anytime with her since the day after you left. Hell you could even ask Gray and Erza, they're here with me...somewhere." He said looking defeated when he didn't see them nearby.

"Just give me ten minutes so we can talk. I've - I guess I've missed you..." He trailed off when I flinched away from him once again. "Damn Bunny I'm close to beggin' here. You know I'm not good at this kind of thing. I promise I won't try to touch you again, and if you don't like the topic then just say so and we will talk about something else-"

I wasn't going to give him 10 seconds let alone ten minutes until I saw Erza and Gray come out of the cake and ice cream parlor that Gajeel had been standing in front of._ He never was one for sweets_. I thought as I continued my silence, enjoying his squirming.

"Lucy!" Gray waved, about to make his way over to us but was stopped by Erza when she saw who I was talking to. Silently asking if I needed her to drag Gajeel away I hesitantly shook my head.

"What do you want to hear?! Do you want to hear that Lily left me to deal with my shit because he is upset with the way I handled things? Or that I've spent the past six days lying awake worrying about you and wishing I could do it all over again. I just want ten minutes. Please." He gritted out the last pleading with his eyes and restraining himself from touching me like I knew he wanted to.

"No- I mean I wasn't shaking my head at you. Erza is- oh never mind." I sighed before walking away. When I didn't sense him following I turned around. "Well are you coming?" Pulling his hands out of his hair, he looked relieved as he caught up to me.

Leading him to the spot where the five of us had staked out for the day I was glad to see that they were there playing in the heated pool close by. Well everyone but Laxus who stood just out of the water watching over his team. When he noticed my approached he turned around and simply lifted his brows in question at my choice of company. Seeing the air around him ruffle his hair I stepped closer to Gajeel, knowing that Laxus wouldn't shock him while I was so close.

**Laxus POV.**

"Laxus what do you think you're doing? You'll shock us all if you release your lightnin- oh Lucy...is with Gajeel. What the hell does he think he's doing here. He has some nerve showing up here, we'll see how much he likes the pool when he's sinking to the bottom of it." Ever smirked evilly, reaching for her sun glasses.

"Cool it Ever. She doesn't want us to interfere."

"But-"

"If I hear anything I don't like you can do what you want."

"Piece of shit doesn't deserve any of her time."

"Shit. Shit."

"If that is what Lucy wishes, but I don't understand why she brought him here to talk. She does know that Laxus-sama is going to be able to hear, doesn't she?"

"You're right Freed. But I think that's the whole point. She knows that we're here for her if things go poorly." Ever said, still keeping a close eye on the two.

_She chose us over Gray and Erza to keep an eye on her? After six days? _My thought was proved false when I saw her two teammates crest the hill and stop in a couple of seats by Lucy and Gajeel. Obviously Lucy had seen them, and was glad to see them by the wave of happiness that poured off of her, and by how she waved to them before returning her attention to her ex.

_What's wrong with me? Ever since our outing yesterday I've been having some seriously strange thoughts concerning the blonde. __Hell I knew I was attracted to her before, and had been since I caught a glimpse of her before Fantasia. But lately I've felt my feelings change. Now wasn't the time to dwell on that, I needed to focus on what was happening in front of me. _I thought as I sensed her nervousness. "_One wrong move." _I threatened the Iron Dragon Slayer when he looked my way.

**Gajeel POV**

Listening to the Thunder God Tribe's plan to protect Bunny I half resented them and was half relieved that she had someone with her to do whatever mission she was on. And when she protected me from the Lightning Rod's imminent attack I knew she still cared for me and that I had some chance of gettin' her back.

"_One wrong move_" Laxus warned, looking me dead in the eye completely serious. D_amn nosey bastard_.

"Gajeel, you wanted to talk so talk." Bunny said sitting on the towel.

Making sure to keep my promise I sat far enough in front of her that there was no risk of us touching. "How have you been? The mission going well?" She hadn't been expecting me to talk about something so unrelated to our relationship, I could tell.

"Uh...yeah it's going well. We're only six days into it though so hopefully it continues on as it has."

"That's good."

"So you said Lily left? Where did he go?"

"Went with Happy and Carla to the Exceed village."

"Wait I just talked to Happy... are you sure he left?"

"Yeah I saw him and Carla off before I left for this job. Maybe he came back early, he does have an issue with leaving Flame Brain for too long."

"True..." Sitting in an awkward silence for a minute she avoided making eye contact as I took her in. She had a little more color to her skin, but still had the bags under her eyes she had been trying to hide before she had left. "Lets cut the crap Gajeel. What's the real topic you wanted to talk about?"

"I do want to know how you're doin' Bunny. I wasn't lyin' 'bout that.

"I just want you to know I'm trying to come up with some way to show you that I've changed or am trying to change. The last time I talked to Levy was a week ago and after that I left the guild; I had run off to find you and drag you back but Natsu isn't as thick headed as I assumed and made me realize I'd only hurt you more if I ignored your wishes. So I've stopped trying to find you... it's hell waiting for you to come back home but I'm willing to do it for you. Just promise me that you won't make any decisions before you come back and we talk some more... in private next time."

"Gajeel... I don't know. I can't lie and say I don't miss you because I do. But what about Levy? How could you resolve your feelings for her in six days and why was she all over you a few minutes ago?"

"I'm sure Bunny, completely sure that it's you that I want, not her. I don't know why she's here, or how she knew where I'd be but I didn't invite her. I wasn't lying when I said I haven't talked to her since you left. She keeps coming up to me and I keep avoidin' her."

"I never said you had to avoid her... that's the exact opposite of what I wanted you to do!"

"If she is standing in the way of us being together then I won't be seein' her no more." Resisting the urge to sooth the worried marks off of her brow I watched as she bit her bottom lip as she thought. "You don't owe me anythin' but please don't decide anythin' until we've had more time to talk. Here, this is my lacrima info, if you feel like talk' just give me a ring." I said quickly digging into my back pocket for receipt I knew was in there so I could write on it. She stared at the piece of paper, not reaching for it. Placing it down underneath one of the shoes that belonged to the four eavesdroppers I stood up, my ten minutes over. "Anytime Bunny, night or day I'll answer."

Getting one last good look at her I walked past Erza and Gray to get back to our room.

* * *

**AN: Let me know what you thought. Please and thank you! **

**kamy4: **Beginning to like her, or beginning to acknowledge his feelings for her? Hmmmm. Lol

**MotherAya: **Haha same here, but I do have my favorite pairings, and LaLu is among them.

**Cow-Lover2214: **Haha thanks! I'm in the same boat as you. It would have been nice if they had kissed but it's only been a few days since she broke up with Gajeel. X[

**Bigr3d: **Sorry for the confusion. When Laxus and Lucy walked away from the picnic, they were alone- the guards and Thunder Legion remained with the princess. So Lucy was able to call Laxus by his real name. He will only be referred to as Lance when there are people around who don't know who he really is - which are all of the nobles, unless I mention otherwise.

Hope that clears things up for you!

**Daddys little crazy bitch: **You're wish is my command. Lol. At least partly.

**OgaxHilda: **That would be messed up, but I don't think that's how its gonna end up. Also this will not be a NaLu, sorry.

**GingerLily01: **There is always a chance that they can work things out. But it's getting harder and harder for me to decide who she should end up with.

**LoVeStAr14: ***Bangs head on the table* I completely forgot about the key! AGAIN! Gomen. :( Next chapter for sure - there is more training for her, other than Laxus making her run laps to increase her stamina.

Haha I've thought of that scenario... I may or may not include it in the end. ;)

**kurahieiritr JIO: **It will be interesting, hopefully the story will reveal its plans to me soon! Lol.

**Grin like the Cheshire Cat: **Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying it.

**Jessica Phantomhive: **Haha, nothing has been decided yet, there is still hope!


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry it took so long to get this out. I didn't have my laptop for over a week... **

**Anyways again so sorry!**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Laxus POV**

She's been silent since Gajeel left five minutes ago. She just sat there staring at the wrinkled paper that she had picked up before it could fly away. When I saw her touch it I had wanted to snatch it out of her hands and give it to a random girl, who had been fawning over him as he talked to Lucy, but was satisfied when I saw her crumple it in her fist after she saw me get out of the pool. Tucking it away in the pocket of her dress she wiped the tears from her cheeks and got to her feet. Looking away from the four of us, she tore off her dress and took a running leap, diving into the pool. Avoiding the kicking feet of the bystanders I watched as she swam under water for longer than I had imagined she could. When it came close to a minute of her gliding under the water she surfaced with a gasp before continuing to the other end of the pool with a breast stroke. Without missing a beat she flipped under water and pushed off of the wall with her feet and headed back towards us.

Seeing no sign of her slowing down Ever, Freed and Bickslow parted so she could swim to the wall and push off again. With each lap she did I was impressed. If she had, had this much stamina when running the train cars, then she would have only had to do it once instead of four times.

"I thought you said she needed to bring up her stamina, Laxus-sama." Freed said as he joined me outside of the pool and pulled his hair over one shoulder so he could squeeze the water from it.

"I thought she did." I replied as she entered her fifth lap without taking a break.

"You said I could turn him to stone if you heard something you didn't like. What the hell did he say to her to make her cry and then swim like a freaking mermaid?" Ever said taking the other side of me; mimicking Freed she gathered her hair to one side and squeezed.

"I don't know what she's crying about. But Gajeel didn't say anything that I thought would make her cry… it was just a bunch of him begging for her to not put the stake in their relationship, and to wait until she returned home. Also, she apparently saw the other book worm with Gajeel before they came here."

_Six. _

"That'd do it." Bickslow said sitting in front of us on the ledge of the pool, to the left of where Lucy had been kicking off. "She told me, she feared that Levy and him would get together, and that if she did take him back she wouldn't be able to trust his feelings for her if Levy was still in the picture."

_Seven._

"He said he's been avoiding the book worm since we left. Wouldn't that make her happy?" Freed asked his eyes still trained on Lucy.

"No, by avoiding her, he isn't sorting out his feelings like Lucy wants him to. It will make it harder for her to trust his professed feelings. But I don't think that is why she's crying. If I found my best friend in the arms of my ex, I'd be hurt too." Ever said, moving to the nearby lounge chair to lie down.

Turning to her I raised my brow. "I didn't hear anything about Gajeel having some other girl in his arms."

_Nine. _

"Think about it, Lucy isn't one for dramatics. There has to be a reason she wasn't happy about them being together. If they were just talking she wouldn't be as upset, so they must have been doing something else. It can't be kissing because she would have booked it out of there and wouldn't have given him the time of day, but a hug… well that can mean several things."

_Ten. _

"Ever's right." The blonde said as she lifted herself out of the pool with her arms alone. Sitting beside Bickslow she stared down at the water as she kicked her feet.  
"I did see them together, but Gajeel said it wasn't what it looked like... He's actually here on a mission with Gray and Erza, I don't know why Levy is here though, she didn't seem too happy to see me though.

"I don't understand why though. We always said that we wouldn't stand in the way if Gajeel chose the other, so she shouldn't be angry...something must have happened."

I hadn't gotten a good look at her bathing suit before, too preoccupied with going through the conversation I had heard and her tears. But now that I was looking, even though it was just her back I was enthralled. Her pink bikini revealed her delicious curves, and surprisingly toned body. There was nothing sexier than a woman who knew how to take care of herself, and Lucy took fabulous care of hers.

"...even if something happened she shouldn't be acting like this, definitely not how a best friend would act." Ever said

"...you don't know her Ever, it's not all of her fault." Lucy whispered before she suddenly stood up, grabbed her towel and ran towards the shops.

"Should we go after her?" Freed asked looking after her.

"No, give her some space, I'm sure she just needs some time to think." Ever said seeming to understand Lucy's sudden departure.

**Lucy POV**

I felt bad for storming out on them but I needed to find Levy before she left so I could talk to her. For the past four months I hadn't treated Levy as my best friend, I always found an excuse to leave when she came up to me and the rare times I couldn't escape I only answered her with one word answers, and grunts. Yes Levy's behavior earlier hadn't been that of a best friend, but then again I hadn't been much of a best friend to her either. I didn't even find out about her and Jet from Levy, I heard it in passing in the guild one day and from Gajeel. I should have been there for her, to celebrate her new found relationship, but instead I was too hurt, and scared to go anywhere near her.

Somewhere along the way our friendship fell apart, and I felt like it was entirely my fault. I began the chain of events that led us to now, and I needed to fix the rift I had created. The thrill of having my first boyfriend, had taken over and I completely forgot that I needed to spend time with my friends who were not a part of Team Natsu. I had inadvertently distanced myself from everyone and I didn't like it.

Running around the giant resort in nothing but a soaked bikini and a towel was not ideal, but I was afraid that I would miss her if I took the time to shower. Popping my head in and out of various shops I dodged some of the people who were actually shopping and accidentally bumped into those unlucky few. Spotting Levy in a cafe across from where I had seen her and Gajeel, I slowed down and made my way to the entrance, keeping and eye on her so she couldn't slip away.

"Excuse me miss, you're dripping all over our carpet, could I interest you in one of the patio tables so we can avoid any water damage to the floor." The host demanded more than asked, sweeping his hand open so he could direct me to where he wanted me to go to make his life easier, but my main focus was my best friend that was sitting across the way.

"Yes that's fine, as long as you bring my friend out with me." Pointing at Levy, who looked up at having heard her name. Waving at her I was disappointed to receive another unhappy gaze in return. Crooking my finger at her I saw her shake her head, denying my invitation. "Sorry, looks like she doesn't want to go outside . I'll have to stay inside then." I said sidestepping the annoying man. _I mean really if you were going to open a cafe in the middle of a water resort you had to expect customers to come in a little wet, well at least you should_. I thought self consciously touching my towel to see how wet it was. The only part of me that's wet is my hair, the rest of me dried on the way here and during my talk with the Thunder Legion.

"What do you want Lu-chan?" She asked looking into her cup instead of at me as I finally made it to her table. "Did you come to gloat that Gajeel chose you once again, even though you've already broken up with him?" She sniffed into her cup, bringing it to her lips in hopes of covering up the choked up sound of her voice.

"Of course not Levy! I'd never do that to you!" I cried taking the chair across from her and leaning forward on the table. "I-I came here to say I'm sorry Levy. I'm sorry I never told you about my relationship, and that I haven't spoken to you much the past several months... I haven't been much of a best friend to you lately." I shamefully said, reaching across the round table to touch her hand. My fingers brushing against the back of her hand brought her head up to reveal tear filled eyes.

"No you haven't been. I needed you Lu-chan. I watched as you grew distant with each passing day, and I couldn't understand why that was. If I had known you and Gajeel were together I never would have spent so much time with him, but you knew how I felt about him, you knew that I wanted him as much as you did. So how come you let me think I had a chance with him for so long?!"

"I didn't see it that way Levy, I'm sorry. No matter what I said he didn't want me to tell anyone, and I was just happy to be with him so I went along with it, even though I knew it was stupid. I thought I was protecting you, or at least he was. He didn't want things to change with you two, or for you to get hurt... neither did I.

"Even though I didn't tell you, didn't that work out for you in some aspect? I mean you and Jet are finally going out and you look happy together!" I said excitedly, trying to cheer her up.

At my question she pulled her hand away and placed it in her lap that she was now staring at. "...we were happy, or at least I thought we were. But he broke up with me the night after you left the guild for this mission. Although if you ask me it doesn't look like you're working at all." She whispered, her sniffles returning in full force, behind the sad smile she gave me. "He-he wasn't happy with what he heard when I went to talk to Gajeel after he had regained consciousness..."

_Regained consciousness?_ I thought my eyes bugging out at what could have happened to knock him out. _Was it my team? They'd be able to do that! Oh my Mavis was the guild okay?_ I thought horrified at every image that ran through my mind of my team setting the guild a flame, freezing it or crushing it.

"...Lu-chan breathe! The guild is fine, and Mira was the one to knock him out." She said, looking temporarily distracted. "Your team only beat him up a little...well a little for them."

"Sorry about that Levy, I just can't leave my team alone for too long without them destroying something, you know how they are." I smiled, turning my full attention back to her. "Please continue, what happened the day after I left?"

"... I went to talk to Gajeel. My intention was to grill him on what he'd done to you and why you never told me but that never happened. I don't know what came over me but I basically told him I would be there for him, and help him move on instead of you.

"It could've been the anger and hurt I was feeling over your avoidance over the past four months, or the fact that my brain automatically thought that this was my chance at him. Which is stupid because I really do care about Jet, and thought I was over Gajeel." She mumbled. "But when I overheard Lily say that he needed to work his feelings out for me, my heart skipped a beat and all of the feelings I thought I had gotten rid of flooded back. We talked, he told me how you thought he had feelings for me, and that was all Lily had meant. He was quick to tell me he had no romantic feelings for me, at least not any more, not since he had gone out with you." Pausing her took a deep breath, and wiped away the tears from her face before she continued. "He wasn't very concerned with not hurting me then. If anything I think he wanted to hurt me, because after our little chat he's been avoiding me and glared at me when I tried to approach him.

"I thought my heart was well and truly broken then and there with each cruel word he said but the minute I stepped out of the room I collided with Jet who looked worse than I had felt. He walked me home is silence, ignoring any attempt I made at conversation before he quietly broke up with me, having overheard my earlier conversation with Gajeel. It was then that I truly knew what it meant to have my heart broken. With Gajeel it was just the pain and embarrassment of his rejection, I know that now.

"What you saw earlier with Gajeel was a goodbye, nothing more. If I want to make it work with Jet, and get him to believe I really love him over Gajeel then I can't be hanging out with him all of the time, or even some of the time, at least not until Jet's comfortable with it... apparently you too Lu-chan." She whispered, standing up from the table as she dug out some jewels from her bag and placed enough of them on the table to pay for her drink and uneaten food. Walking past me she stopped and looked down at me with a small, sad smile. "This all could have been avoided if you had just been truthful and told everyone Lu-chan." Were her last words before she disappeared into the crowd outside the door.

_She blames me for everything? Her break up, and her ending her friendship Gajeel? But that's not what I wanted... _I thought feeling something drip onto my arms, assuming it was my hair I pushed it aside and continued to stare at the door._ Levy... _Even though I was staring at the door I wasn't really seeing it, otherwise I would have seen the Thunder God Tribe walk in, and make their way to me to take the space my best friend had just vacated, dragging chairs over from unoccupied tables, making a terrible racket that drew my attention. Running a hand over my face I realized that I had been crying and turned my head away to quickly brush the tears away.

"Hey you guys." I said with a pathetic attempt at a smile.

Ever, who had sat so close to me that our legs were pushed against each other, put an arm around my shoulder and leaned her head on my shoulder. "It's alright to let it out Lucy, we aren't going to judge you, or think less of you if you cry."

Sniffling I leaned my head a top of hers and closed my eyes. "I know you guys won't. I'm just tired of crying, I've cried so much in the past week and I'm running out of tears. You guys could have stayed at the pool, I would have gone back eventually."

"We wanted to check on you Cosplayer." Bickslow said, taking advantage of the moment to lean on my other shoulder. I wasn't fooled, he was definitely looking at my chest, but at the moment I didn't care, just having Ever and him to cuddle up to was already calming me down. It reminded me of my team, that I missed dearly.

"Haha, my face is over here Bickslow."

"I know Cosplayer." He laughed letting his tongue hang out, almost touching my skin.

"Keep that tongue to yourself." I warned, cringing away from it as it swung closer to my skin.

"Bickslow..." Freed said shaking his head in disapproval.

"Hey, I got her to laugh didn't I?" He asked winking at me.

"Let it be Freed, she doesn't mind." Laxus said watching the three of us lean on each other. "Where did you learn to swim so well?"

"Uh... well Aquarius, one of my spirits that I've had since my mother died, always swept me away, usually into large bodies of water and made me fend for myself. I had to learn to swim against her current, and to swim for long distances depending on how annoyed she was with me at the time. It's saved my life a couple of times, so I don't begrudge her for what she did. It also helps me keep up my arm muscles and what little stamina I have." I shrugged, not thinking that it was much.

"Where was all of that stamina when you were running laps on the train? You would have only had to do it ones instead of several times."

"You did notice I was wearing heels right? I've been wearing them every chance I get so I can get used to walking in them again. Mr. Nazi over there wouldn't let me take them off, hence the slow pace."

"If you're going to wear them, you might as well learn to fight and run in them."

"It's not that hard Lucy, I do it all of the time." Ever said, smiling up at me, kicking me with said heels.

"Yeah and how long did it take you to get used to running and fighting in them?" Giggling, she shrugged not looking the least bit sympathetic.

"Then it's settled, when you train you'll wear those shoes. There is no point training in other shoes right now since we have to be prepared for an attack at the next noble house... that is if they stop cancelling on the Princess." Freed chipped in.

"Great..." I muttered. Watching the waiter begrudgingly come to our table so Freed could order food and drink enough for ten people. For the amount of food that was ordered it was delivered rather quickly, each plate looking absolutely delicious; seafood, chicken, steak, salad, and pasta. Suddenly ravenous I dug into the food, like a mad women, surprising myself and the others. Embarrassed by my Natsu-like behavior, I slowed down and took time to appreciate the food, joining in on their laughter.

Linner, because it wasn't quite dinner time, and a few hours after lunch was a great distraction to what had happened earlier. Not once during our meal did I think about Gajeel or Levy. Ever, Bickslow, Freed and even Laxus kept the conversation going, never letting it get close to the elephant in the room. And for that I appreciated them all the more.

Surprisingly every piece of food was gone an hour after I had first dug in and it wasn't because of Laxus. "You get enough there Lucy?" Bickslow snickered looking at the huge stack of plates I had towered in front of me.

"Haha, most definitely! I realized that I haven't had much to eat since we left the hotel until I smelled all of the food." Sheepishly looking at their smaller stacks of plates I offered to pay for the meal.

"Don't think about it Lucy! It's Laxus' turn to get the bill anyways." Ever said pushing up out of her chair and stretching her arms over her head. "I'm gonna go catch some more rays before they're all gone, anyone care to join me?"

"Thanks, but I think I want to take a break from the pool for a bit." I declined, intending on finally making a contract with my new spirit, and checking in on Hisui.

"I'll go with you." Freed said getting up to stand by her side.

"Me too, I had something I wanted to check out." Bickslow joked, waggling his eyebrows at me.

Looking to Laxus, I saw him shake his head a moment before the waiter came with the check. "If you guys are sure." She shrugged, giving us another chance to tag along. When neither of us moved to follow as they walked towards the door she gave up. "You'll know where to find us." They waved, as they disappeared from sight.

"Ready to talk about what the short one said?" Laxus asked, already standing, having thrown a bunch of jewels on the table to cover our tab.

Sighing I stood up, and headed to the door, the glow of 'linner' suddenly gone. "I had something else in mind."

"It's called multitasking." He grunted walking beside me. "If you keep it in it'll just distract you later on."

Knowing he was right, I relented. "Damn it Laxus, could you have at least let me forget about my drama for the rest of the day?"

"And listen to you toss and turn during the night? Not a chance."

"... you've heard that?"

"Yup, and your mutterings."

"...my mutte-" I gasped, blushing at what he had probably heard. "Oh Mavis, what did I say?"

"No. Gajeel. Why. No complete sentences, at least not ones I've been able to understand."

"I'm sorry if I've kept you up."

"You haven't, I'm up anyways."

Raising my brow in question at his confession I was disappointed when he didn't share as he expected me to. "Levy isn't after Gajeel, in fact she said she couldn't hang out with him anymore. Jet apparently got tired of how 'together' they were and decided to break up with her. I should be happy that she and Gajeel won't be around each other anymore but I'm not. I don't know what I want anymore." I sighed, leading Laxus to the edge of the empty playground. "I feel guilty about it all really. Levy said that none of this would have happened if I had told everyone about my relationship, and she's right. I should have stuck with my gut and told everyone."

"That's stupid. It's not your fault for keeping your word."

"I guess-"

"There's no guessing about it. As a Celesital Mage your word is everything 'nd if you break it none of your spirits would trust you as they do now." I stopped abruptly to stare at him in shock. _Even my team had a hard time accepting I couldn't tell them certain things because I had promised someone else I wouldn't. How is it that Laxus, who I've been around not even a full week comprehend it so easily? _

"How...?"

Shrugging uncomfortably under my astonished gaze he walked past me, making a hasty escape. "Tch. I had Freed do some research on Celestial Magic. No big deal."

Catching up to him I stopped him with an hand on his arm I looked up at him. "It is a big deal to me." I watched as his eyes softened as we continued to stare at each other. Somehow the space between us got smaller and smaller until I was pressed up against him. It wasn't until I felt his hand glide across my back did I realize the situation I was in. Clearing my throat I took a step back, instantly missing the warmth of his body against mine. "Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read what Freed found. It means a lot to me.

"I'm about to make a contract with the key I bought in Crocus... if you'd like to watch? I have to tell you Natsu and Happy were bored, and unimpressed by the whole process, so I understand if you say no."

"Lead the way." He said waiting for me to move.

Happy for some reason that he decided to join me we walked the rest of the way to the park I had seen on our way to the resort. On a hot day like today no one was at the park, instead they were all crowding the pools and water slides, finding any way to cool down. Standing beside Laxus I removed the silver key from my key ring and smiled at him. "You ready for this?" I asked with a huge smile on my face, excited to meet my new friend.

"Open Gate of the Fire Bird, Phoenix!" I said holding the silver key out in front of me. I had been looking for this particular key ever since I had met Wendy. She wanted so desperately to improve her healing skills, but there was no one around to teach her. Prolycusia could only teach her so much, but once I made a contract with the Phoenix then I could ask her to teach Wendy. Despite the differences in their elements I had done enough research to believe that they healed in similar ways.

In a swirl of fire and silver starlight Freya appeared. She was easily the biggest out of all of my spirits, standing a head taller than Laxus with a wing span of twice her height. She was a mixture of reds and oranges, all blending together to make it seem that she was literally on fire, but she wasn't... at least not yet. If what I had read was true then she only was aflame during battle.

"Hi Freya! My name is Lucy Heartfilia, and I'd like to make a contract with you." I said taking a few steps closer to her, enjoying the warmth her body radiated.

"I know who you are, and I agree to making a contract with you, Master." She said, lying down on the ground so I could look her without looking up.

"Please don't call me Mater, I want you to think of me as your friend instead of owner. You can call me by my name, or almost anything else."

"I've heard that your spirits call you Princess... will that be acceptable?"

"Yes that's perfectly fine. But if you come up with another nickname feel free to call me that." Pulling out my notebook where I kept all of the information on my contracts I flipped to a new page. "What days are you available?"

"Available? Whenever you have need of me I guess." She said uncertainly.

"Are you sure you don't have any days that you would prefer to be left alone?"

"My last...master was a 'doctor' and needed me every day, almost all day. I don't know what I would do on a day off."

"Oh okay, well I won't need you everyday most likely so you should find something to do in the Spirit world. But I did have a favor to ask of you. You see my friend, Wendy, well she is a healer, but her training was cut short, do you think you could teach her some of what you know when we get back to my guild?" I asked hopefully.

"A pupil? Hmmm, that would be a most splendid use of my free time. When will we return to your guild?"

"Uh in about a month or so."

"That leaves barely enough time to get a lesson plan ready!" She exclaimed, her head already off planning for her first student. Waving to her, and receiving a distracted nod in return I closed her gate and sighed happily.

"There you have it Laxus, usally I have to ask them what abilities they have but she got a little distracted . But I don't mind, I've done enough research on her so I should be alright if I have to call on her during battle. I know it wasn't exciting for you but -"

"Stop worrying about what others think. If you enjoy making contracts then that's that."

"Okay..." I was unsure what to say to that so I returned her key to my ring and stood there awkwardly. "He-hey Laxus, I've been meaning to ask you, when we were by the waterfall..."

"You're not ready for that, I know." He said, shrugging off my unfinished question as if I knew what he was talking about.

"Not ready for what?" I asked genuinely confused. _Was I not ready to move on from Gajeel? Not ready to have another man hit on me? Or was I just not ready for him? "_La-" I stopped because all of sudden he was directly in front of me, his lips a scant space away from mine. "-xus." I don't know who closed the space between us but all I know is that one moment my mind was frantically full, and the next it was empty as I registered the feel of his lips on mine.

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**An: Let me know what you thought, please and thank you!**

**Leaving you on a cliff hanger I know but I didn't want to make this chapter any longer. Again I am so sorry for the long wait! I have my laptop back, but then I also bought a new one and have to get used to it. It also doesn't help that my internet has been on the fritz so no matter how many computers I have access to it doesn't matter if I don't have Internet. So this author's note was written on my phone which is why it may have more mistakes than usual. **

**Review time! You all rock so much! I had 15 reviews for the last chapter 15! Personally I think that's amazing and I appreciate each and everyone I received.**

**OgaxHilda: haha sorry! They could but then again I wouldn't know where to begin writing a threesome.**

**Kamy4: he does have to change but I think he is starting to. Even though this chapter ended the way it did I still haven't decided who she will end up with so there is still hope for LaLu.**

**kurahieiritr JIO: I didn't mean to make it seem that Levy was the bad guy but I think in the end I did. Hopefully this chapter rectifies that somewhat.**

**I love the support system the Thunder God Tribe offers Lucy! It's one of my favorite things about this doc so far because she definitely needs it!**

**GingerLily01: she is...was with Jet. Hopefully this chapter explains things. :)**

**FW Wandering: I know! They both have been sucky friends to each other but hopefully they can work things out!**

**LoVeStAr14: haha so true, but you can't tell the heart who it's supposed to love unfortunately.**

**I don't know if you read my chapter for CoLu but if you did I'm sorry. I had to delete it because of my lack of computer and was too frustrated writing on my phone and losing work to continue it.**

**Daddys little crazy bitch: Yay yay yay!**

**Grin like the Cheshire Cat: haha you and a whole bunch of people.. and a part of me. ;)**

**leoslady4ever: thanks! He is trying and I don't know what else he can do to show her how much he is willing to change. :/**

**SnowLilyAngel: sorry it took so long to update!**

**veraozao: *squeals* thank you! :)**

**Cow-Lover2214: I know but it was her who hugged him!**

**Matsuo Hotaru: yay!**

**Sica-new: haha so sorry... Lol I'm just as conflicted as you are but I'm enjoying it!**

**CelticHeart13: if only Mashima could hear your prayers, life would be amazing! ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Sooo I know I haven't updated in a couple of weeks and I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been having trouble coming up with what to write for both of my stories. My attempt to give my mind a break worked... but it worked a little too well. Lol. Playing Skyrim non-stop and reading when I should be writing was a very nice distraction. **

**sorry for any mistakes you may find. **

**Hopefully my writer's block goes away soon. **

**Everyone should thank artificialartoffical for giving me a wake up call with her PM. :) **

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**Evergreen POV**

"Lucy what's wrong with you today! You're completely losing focus during the most essential part of your training!" I yelled dodging the out of control power as I stomped towards her as she once again stared off into the distance and lost control of the power she was gradually accumulating around her. When I blocked her view of the edge of the park her attention snapped back to me with a guilty look and a dusting of red on her cheeks.

"So-sorry Ever it won't happen again." She said sitting up straight to begin concentrating on pulling on her magic.

Stopping her before she could really begin I placed a hand on her shoulder, receiving a small sting in return from the lingering power that surrounded her. "Lucy is there something you want to talk about? You've been so distracted the past two days. I'm getting worried. Are you thinking about what Gajeel and Levy said? Or could it be that your thinking about whatever has you avoiding Laxus at every turn?" Hearing her small gasp and seeing the way her head snapped up to look at me I guessed I wasn't supposed to have noticed the tension between her and Laxus. "Did Laxus say something to you?"

"No. I've been thinking about all three, it's not just him." She sighed taking a more relaxed position as she laid back on the grass in defeat, knowing I wouldn't let the subject go until she spilled. Following her lead I laid down beside her except on my side so I could see her face. "First I found out that Gajeel had cut Levy out of his daily life on his own, without anyone telling him to do so. And I assumed that he had figured out he didn't love Levy, I mean why else would he start avoiding her? But that's not what I wanted. I wanted him to talk things out with her, but that's not gonna happen because he's now the one who is being avoided, because Levy now loves Jet, which is good right? Which means I have nothing to worry about in that department anymore and we can get back together. But can I forget what happened in the past? How inconsiderate of my feelings he had been, and how my heart broke every time I saw them together; was the heartbreak worth the happy times we had together? And what of my team? Could they forgive me, us both, for not telling them earlier?

"I had tried to find Gray and Erza to talk to them, to ask them for advice, but I couldn't find them anywhere, and was disappointed when I checked the hotels to find that they had checked out the same day I saw them. There is so much I need to say to them, and Natsu, I still feel bad for lying to them for so long and it's killing me.

"I also went to check the hotels for Levy but she checked out after she left the cafe. I wanted to tell her that she wasn't being fair by placing the blame on me for her problems because Laxus was right, I wasn't to blame for her problems, although I still feel bad, but my and Gajeel's relationship was just that, mine and Gajeel's. Sure I wasn't much of a friend to her during the relationship, but I most definitely didn't need to have her place the blame for her current problems on me. I don't deserve that.

"Then of course there's Laxus... I don't want to talk to him or be around him right now because every time I'm around him or think about him I yearn for something I shouldn't and that confuses me even more." She finished in a huff, having tried to fit that all in as few breaths as possible, afraid that if she stopped she wouldn't be able to continue.

_Yearning? What the hell is she talking about? No! Laxus wouldn't, he shouldn't... _I thought looking at her as she brought her fingertips to her lips and had this dreamy smile on her face. _...he did._ I sighed silently cursing him for making things more confusing for Lucy. "What an idiot." I muttered not expecting Lucy to be paying attention but of course she was.

"It's not his fault..." She trailed off when I lifted a brow in question. "Well it wasn't. I'm not sure how it happened or who even initiated it, it just happened."

"He knew not to press you, and after the waterfall I expressly told him to stop but he doesn't listen. If the waterfall and your guys' kiss never happened you'd be jumping at the chance to get back with Gajeel wouldn't you?" I could see her thinking by the way her nose scrunched up in thought as she considered her feelings before she had become aware that Laxus was into her.

"I-I honestly don't know, we will never know what I would have done. If we're going from my emotional state before I the waterfall then most likely I would be thinking of getting back together with him but it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't know if I can trust him any more.

"Ever...am I a terrible person for enjoying Laxus' attention?" She asked biting her lip in worry.

"No, no your not. Who wouldn't enjoy catching Laxus' attention, no sane girl that's who." I joked trying to get that guilty look off of her face. Seeing her eyes crinkle in suppressed laughter I smiled back at her before continuing. " Although it's normal to enjoy it, you can't do anything about it until you decide what you really want. He may not seem like it but Laxus can get hurt, and I don't want to have to knock some sense into you for hurting one of my best friends." I sighed, thinking that one way or another someone would be getting hurt once this entire mess was over with.

"I promise I won't make any decisions until I know what I want Ever. I'll even talk to Laxus and explain to him that he was right and I'm not ready for anything remotely resembling another relationship." Sitting up, with more determination than I had seen in her in the past couple of days she turned to me with a big smile on her face. "Thanks I love that I can talk to you about anything." She said giving me a quick hug before resuming her rigid posture. "Okay Ever I'm ready to try again."

"Good. Get into position and concentrate on drawing out your magic, then let it flow around you, but make sure you keep it within half a foot of you. When you feel yourself tapping into your second origin then gradually expand the radius. As you draw out more and more power you'll notice yourself getting tired, but push through that. This is one way to expand your powers and bear with how tired you get when you use a lot of magic. If you get used to the tiredness then you can push yourself more and hold the gates open for longer and potentially open another gate. But according to Freed and your spirits that's way too dangerous right now so we aren't going to try it just yet." Watching as she nodded at my instructions and closed her eyes I saw the wind blowing her hair around as the force of her magic emerged from her. This was a long and boring exercise but once you got the hang of it, the boringness of it all didn't phase you; she would learn to ignore the uncomfortable ground beneath her bum, the rocks that dug into her legs and the dirt that flew around her and chafed her skin.

The guys hated this exercise the most, always complaining as they were forced into doing it by me. But when it came to a fight and they noticed that they could go longer without reaching the point of exhaustion they thanked me in the end...begrudgingly. But it still didn't stop them from whining when it came time to train with me. We had learned early on when we first formed our team that we could learn new techniques or necessary skills from each other, ever since that discovery we have all been taking turns in who leads our training days. Bickslow was in charge of agility and stealth; Freed, taught us how to decipher runes, and even write a few of our own to help boost our natural powers; Laxus trained us in hand-to-hand combat, and surprisingly he taught us how to do all of the paperwork Makarov forced on him. He may complain about doing all of it, but he was a pro at it, always knowing what papers went where and bullshitting our 'apology' for some destruction that occurred on a mission- mainly from Team Natsu. It was fun really, each of us being able to share what we knew, and learning new things every so often but most of all it gave us more time to grow closer as a team, and learn each other's weaknesses and strengths.

Hearing Lucy grunt in effort I shifted my attention back to her, feeling guilty for yelling at her for day dreaming when my mind had just wandered off. Seeing the air around her twirling the dust, grass and her hair I nodded my head in approval as I to watch her, and felt the power around her increase. I expected her to run through her initial magic within ten minutes but she went on for much longer, which told me she had a surprising amount of magic stored up inside that tiny body of hers. I never would have guessed she had this much considering she was always getting tired after all of her battles, but then recalling the packet Freed had made for us about Celestial Mages, it took a shit ton of magic to summon one of the Zodiac keys and she had ten of them, _and _she could hold two of those gates open at once. It was amazing really. When considering how much power went into summoning, then feeding her spirits her magic for the entire time they were on Earthland it was safe to say that she was probably on par with Freed, Bickslow and I, in her magic capacity.

About twenty minutes into the exercise I felt her magic stabilize and stop growing. Hearing her steady her breathing I waited to see if she could continue or if she'd have to stop. I could tell she was already exhausted, by the way her shoulders slumped a little and the sweat running down her face. I was thinking she was done for the day, until I saw her determined face appear again and her back straighten. Watching as the condensed force of her magic expanded, I watched in awe.

"Hey Ev-"

"Shhh" I hushed whoever was walking up from behind me, waving him to stand beside me so he wouldn't get in the way of Lucy's ever growing magic. "...watch." I whispered keeping my eyes glued to Lucy. From the corner of my eye I could see that it was Freed who had come up to us, looking down at my watch I was shocked to see that we had gone over our scheduled training time, which was why Freed was here, probably wondering where his pupil was. Continuing in a hushed tone I spoke to Freed without taking my eyes off of Lucy. I needed to watch her for any sign of her possibly passing out, because if she did her magic would run amuck and could possibly harm her in the process. "Sorry we were having...difficulties in the beginning and lost track of time. She's been at this for a good hour now."

"An hour?! It took Bickslow and I a week to get to that point."

"I know! You were right, she is much stronger than most people give her credit for but with my training she should be able to hold out longer than before instead of wearing herself out so quickly." Taking a step towards the Celestial Mage when I saw her shoulders slump, I prepared to fly out of the way of her magic. "Freed can you make a rune barrier around us, I would have asked you to do it earlier if I thought she was going to get this far in her training, my rune barriers still need some work otherwise I would do it."

In the next second I saw the shield go up around us and felt safer that the entire park wouldn't go up in flames if she lost control of her power. Gingerly walking towards Lucy I called out to her softly, so I wouldn't startle her. "Okay Lucy, that's good now see if you can absorb the magic into yourself. Make sure you do it slowly, otherwise you'll get a magic high." A magic high was something I had discovered when I first started this exercise, the rush of having all of your magic at your fingertips in an instant went straight to your head. It was unlike any recreational drug out there, and it was more dangerous. While on a magic high you thought you were invincible, and tried to do reckless things- in Lucy's case she would try to summon all of her spirits at once, which is why it was more dangerous. In the end a person would unintentionally try to use up all of their magic, and kill themselves.

Researching the phenomenon I discovered it wasn't uncommon, and that many wizards did it intentionally for the similar feeling of expensive drugs, unfortunately they didn't realize that it had a 76 percent death rate. For those who survived it was only because they had been caught in time and had anti-magic restraints put on them. The only reason I survived my magic high was because I was too weak to do anything. Trying to expand your magic at the age of six while I was alone, before I knew Fairy Tail had existed was also a plus. After that one incident, and waking up to find myself in another town's dumpster had me freaking out and running to the nearest library to figure out what had caused it. Ever since then I have always been careful, and I wasn't about to let Lucy experience that horrible sensation.

"That's good Lucy, keep absorbing your magic at that pace." Watching her brow scrunch even more and more sweat drip down her face I knew it was getting hard to control the pace. "That's alright Lucy, if you can't continue I have the magic restraints at hand so you'll just be locked up for a few hours." I said giving her an out. If anything my 'out' made her even more determined to continue. _Note to self, Lucy does not like being locked up._

The next ten minutes dragged on, making it seem like hours but in the end Lucy was able to absorb all of her magic before falling backwards with ragged breaths. Squatting down next to her I saw that she had passed out, clearly overworked. "Good job Lucy." I whispered dabbing the sweat off of her face with a towel. "Freed can you carry her back to our room-" I began but, Freed was already kneeling down beside me lifting her up. "Thanks. I'll meet you back at the room, I have to gather up everything."

Picking up the few things we had brought to the park I lingered a little until I could no longer see Freed and Lucy. "Are you done being a creeper for the day?" I asked looking into the woods. "You're not really blending in with the shrubbery Laxus, you can come out already." Seeing the branches shift, Laxus jumped from his perch in the tree and walked toward me.

"You should have stopped her earlier Ever, you two could have gotten hurt." He grumbled, lifting the pack out of my hands and flinging it over his shoulder, without missing a step as he followed after Freed.

"Are we going to ignore the fact that you have been watching us ever since my talk with Lucy? I didn't realize you were there until after she had started up again otherwise I would have exposed your eavesdropping... you should have listened to me Laxus, your stunt in the park just made her even more confused about this whole situation, I don't want to see you get hurt." I finished in a whispered tone, knowing he wasn't entirely comfortable about my concern in any aspect of his life.

"Ever will you chill, I know what I'm doing. She already suspected I was interested in her, I just wanted to make it clear that she had options, besides her ex."

"I know, but..."

"Ever." Laxus said as he stopped and looked at me with a serious expression. "You know I've had a thing for her since Phantom Lord, if you think for one second I'm going to waste this opportunity because I'm worried about getting hurt then you're dead wrong. I saw the look in his eye, if he gets her back he is never letting her go and I can't just give up because of that. Hell she doesn't even know if she can trust the prick anymore, so let it be and let things run it's course. I know she isn't ready for a relationship, I'm not stupid, but dating doesn't mean anything. Let me show her what I can offer her during the rest of the trip and she can decide once we get back." He said, shocking me into silence. I knew he had a crush on her since she caught his eye during what I liked to call his 'black days', but I didn't know how much until his speech just now.

Taking my silence as an acknowledgement of my consent he grunted and continued walking back to the hotel. _I wonder if Freed and Bickslow know the extent of his feelings for Lucy... _I mused walking behind him as I went over the past year and a half since Laxus had first set eyes on Lucy, wondering where I had missed the signs of his true feelings.

**Lucy POV**

Slowly consciousness creeped up on me as I snuggled deeper into my pillow trying to return to the dream I couldn't recall, but I knew it was a nice one by the way I felt. I hated when my subconscious wouldn't let me remember my dreams, especially the good ones. Prolonging the inevitable I stretched with my face still glued to the pillow before I slowly turned over and opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was the time... it was only one in the morning. Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed I groaned, knowing I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep since I had been sleeping for around twelve hours. Feeling my bladder throbbing for release I hopped off of the bed and walked to the bathroom.

_"Great my first real attempt at Ever's exercise and I pass out. They're probably wondering how I can be part of Team Natsu when I'm this weak." _I mumbled to myself.

"That's not true." A sleepy voice grumbled from within the bedroom. Letting out an involuntary squeak I slapped a hand over my mouth as I slammed the bathroom door completely closed.

"What are you doing in here?!" I yelled embarrassed that he heard everything I had said and did in the past couple of minutes. Glad that he couldn't see how red I was I flushed the toilet and washed my hands before leaning over the counter to get a good look at myself. Cringing when I saw the nest I called my hair I doused it with water and tried to tame it. Once it was less of an eye sore I splashed some water on my face, clearing the sleep from my eyes. Taking a deep breath I reached for the door knob and reentered the bedroom.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you." Laxus shrugged, stretching his legs and arms causing his shirt to rise a bit. The teasing bit of flesh that was revealed had me thinking about how nice he had felt pressed against me.

"La-Laxus... I need to talk to you about..." _What was I supposed to say? Talk about us? There wasn't even an us._ "...about the kiss. No matter how much I liked it, it can't happen again. You see I'm not ready to start up a new relationship... not that, that is what I think you want." I stumbled when his eye brows raised at my rambling. "Oh bother. Whatever it is you want I'm not ready for it."I finished not willing to make myself look like a fool any longer. Waiting for his response was agonizing, he just stared at me for what seemed like ages as I shifter from foot to foot resisting the urge to run back into the bathroom.

Watching a smirk slowly appear, I waited anxiously to find out what he was thinking. Fluidly getting off of the oversized chair we closed the distance between us, making me look up at his face as he looked down at mine, still smirking. "I know you're not ready for a relationship. I told you that the last time we were together before you began avoiding me like the plague. Don't looked so shocked, it wasn't hard to figure out that was what you were doing when you'd find an excuse to leave the room whenever I entered it. 'Though you might not be ready for a relationship, there's no harm in hanging out." Laxus said giving me a sly look.

"...just hanging out?" I asked suspiciously not liking the look of him as he continued to hold my gaze.

"Hanging out, dating, it's the same thing really." He shrugged.

Opening and closing my mouth like a fish out of water I couldn't comprehend what he just said. _"_They are not the same thing! They are completely two different things!" I denied backing away from him.

"How are they different?"

"Wha... they just are!"

"Give me three ways they're different and I won't pursue this." He promised, patiently waiting for my answers.

"Well...ummm. When you hang out with friends you don't kiss or do other intimate things, that you could do on dates." Seeing him nod and lift one finger up I continued, trying to think of what else made the two activities different. "On dates usually the guy pays."

"Nah, I pay for Ever's shit all the time." He said simply, grinning at me as I glared at him. _I guess he's right... Gray pays for me too sometimes. _

"Fine..." I said floundering for another difference. "... the activities you do with a friend versus a date are different."

"If that's all you can come up with then get dressed I have a surprise for you." Laxus said, turning to leave.

"Bu...but it's only one in the morning, nothing is open besides the casino." I said to thin air as he walked through the door ignoring my protests. Although I grumbled about being told what to do, I rushed to my bag and dug out a plain blue sundress and black gladiator sandals. Quickly putting everything on I opened the door to find Laxus leaning against the wall across from the door.

Seeing him giving me an appreciative look I blushed a bit, and took his offered hand. Entwining our fingers he led the way outside, bypassing the crowded casino, and any other crowded areas he took me to the park where we had kissed.

"Laxus..."

"Chill, I'm not bringing you here for that." He chuckled before stopping in front of a blanket that was spread out over the grass. "I thought you'd like to see the meteor shower that's supposed to happen tonight, wasn't sure if you'd wake up in time though but I had Ever set the stuff up anyways."

Speechless I let him pull me down next to him trying to contain my surprise at how thoughtful this surprise was. I didn't even know there was a meteor shower tonight, so the fact that he found out on his own made it even more amazing._ As far as first dates went it was spectacular. _Laying flat on my back I took in the twinkling stars, silently giggling to myself because when I was little my mom and I would always pretend that each twinkle meant a Celestial Spirit was greeting us. I know it's not true, but when you're five you'll believe anything.

"You're not weak." Laxus said suddenly dragging my mind away from thoughts of my mother and simpler times.

Turning my head to the side I looked up at him, as he was still sitting with his arms crossed and his legs out in front of him. "Huh?" I asked confused for a brief moment before remembering what I had said to myself earlier. "Oh... can we just forget you heard that?" Plopping my head back down I rested my forearm over my eyes trying to block out my embarrassment.

"You can't seriously believe that." He said ignoring my wishes.

Sighing heavily I talked without looking at him. "I don't know... sometimes I do. Most of the time I can barely keep up with my team, and usually wind up needing to be saved. It wears on one's confidence."

"Just need to build up your endurance then you can keep up with them no problem."

"If only it were as easy as it sounds-"

"Nothing worth havin' is easy. You gotta work for it, take advantage of the next month and a half, learn what you can from us and I guarantee you'll be able to flatten one of your teammates on their back." Looking at him as if he had lost his marbles I mumbled something, just to get him to drop the subject. "You'll see." Was all he said.

Sitting in silence for several minutes I was beginning to doubt that the meteor shower was real and was about to say something to him when I saw a streak of white cross the sky above us.

I loved every minute of the shower, completely lost in the beauty of it I didn't notice when Laxus finally laid down beside me to relax. For something so simple the meteor shower took my breath away as I watched the next twenty minutes. When the last of the meteors disappeared from sight I sighed in disappointment, wishing that the shower would continue for a little while longer. Beyond grateful for this magnificent show, I turned to Laxus with every intention of thanking him, only to find him peacefully sleeping with both of his hands behind his head. _Worrying and watching over me for most of the day probably wore him out_. I mused leaning towards him to brush away a stray leaf that had fallen on his face, letting my fingers linger I stared down at him, wondering why things couldn't be simple for once. When he grunted and shifted closer to me, I withdrew my hand and resumed my position on the blanket to stare up at the stars, praying that they would be able to tell me what I should do.

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**AN: Finally I finished this chapter. Hope everyone likes it. **

**Let me know what you thought please and thank you. **

**GemNika: At this point so am I, lol. But I think I finally decided on who is going to end up with her, so my long break wasn't a complete waste. :)**

**rrrrrRANDOMmm: Yes they are but hopefully their friendship will survive! **

**Cow-Lover2214: SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! **

**Grin like the Cheshire Cat: I have to agree that LaLu is beautiful. **

**kurahieiritr JIO: ****Yeah Gajeel had made them miserable, but he is miserable now so it makes it semi better… well not really. But I can't bring myself to hate him. :P**

**Thanks, I was worried that I was mucking up Laxus, but as long as people are okay with how he is behaving then I'm happy. J**

**Laxus' interest in her magic is a good indication of how serious he is about his desire to be with her. And if everything goes as planned it will help sway her to accepting more dates from Laxus in the future, and maybe ultimately help decide who she will end up with. But nothing is set in stone, who knows I might have a change of heart one day and totally veer away from my plan for this story. LOL**

**OgaxHilda: Haha So sorry… Not! I love how people are conflicted J**

**Sica-nee: :]**

**Daddy's little crazy bitch: I'm glad **

**TigerJoyKitty: Sorry it took so long for an update… hope you enjoyed this one! **

**Veraozao: :]**


	13. Chapter 13

**An: I know I suck, but I have a really good reason for taking so long to update. The week I planned on writing this chapter I got really sick and was stuck in bed almost the entire week. And then once I got better I had to get ready for my trip to Disneyland, and the reason I didn't update during Disneyland is pretty obvious. Then once I got back from vacation I got sick once again... which honestly sucked cause it took another week for me to get over that. But now I'm healthy. :)**

**But earlier this week FanFiction decided to prevent me from getting into my account so I couldn't work on the chapter since I didn't have access to it. **

**Anyways, here it is! Hope you enjoy it. **

**Sorry for any mistakes you find, I tried to catch them all. :)**

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**Lucy POV**

The first hour the next morning was...awkward at best; I didn't know how I was supposed to act around Laxus now that he had gotten me to agree to 'date' him with no strings attached and no expectations other than to have fun. Waking up with my head tucked under his and our arms wrapped around each other hadn't helped the situation either. The walk back to the hotel wasn't so bad, but I could tell he clearly wasn't a morning person by the ways his eyes kept dropping and by the growling noises he made when I tried to start a conversation. Once we were back at the hotel I quickly darted away from him and into my hotel room to pack and get ready for the day - our little vacation was over unfortunately and we had to go back to parading around the nobles.

During breakfast Laxus just sat there with his sound pods on and nodded to me when I entered the room. Not knowing what I should do I moved to sit by Ever as I always did but he pulled out the empty seat beside him indicating I should sit there with a grunt. Surprised and secretly pleased that he wasn't going to pretend that last night hadn't happened to our friends I sat down next to him. As soon as I sat down my chair was pulled to the table by Laxus, once I was situated he grabbed my free hand under the table and threaded our fingers together all while eating. Giving his hand a squeeze I looked around the table to see the smirks the other three had as they watched the two of us. Blushing at their attention I bend my head over my fruit filled plate and began to eat.

All of my worrying earlier in the morning had been for naught because breakfast resumed as usual. We chatted as we usually did, talking about how sad we were that we had to leave the resort to go back to the life of the stuck up pricks of the world. It was agreed by all of us that we would have to come back to Akane Resort sometime after we were done with this job. I agreed readily with the future plans, but then thought of what would happen with my new found friendships if I didn't wind up with Laxus in the end. Would they still want to hand out with me, do another mission together, would they even talk to me again?

Feeling pressure on my hand I snapped out of my wayward thoughts and looked over at Laxus.

"Chill and turn off your thoughts before your head starts steaming." He said rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. Lost for words I nodded my head and resumed eating my fruit salad with new thoughts running through my head. _How did he even know I was freaking out?_ _Not even Gajeel could tell when I was worried or pissed off… or maybe he did know and didn't care… _

Throughout the rest of breakfast Laxus would periodically tighten his hold on my hand to get me to breath and calm down.

Once we were all done we did a last minute sweep of our rooms for anything we may have missed before checking all of the carriages, horses, saddles and carriage wagons for possible dangers. When everything was deemed safe we gave everyone else the go ahead to start hauling their stuff out and going to their designated spots for travel.

Waiting until everyone else had gotten situated we started packing our own bags into the luggage cart. _Leaving wasn't so depressing now that we had plans to return in the near future_. I thought with a smile as I finished tossing the last of our bags into the cart. Looking around I saw my horse all saddled and ready for me, but when I took a step away from the half-filled luggage cart someone grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Lucy if you want you can ride in the cart with me and I can begin the training you missed yesterday." Freed said, withdrawing his arm when he had my full attention.

"That would be nice Freed but I have to accompany the Princess as she rides her horse."

"I've already spoken to her; she won't be riding today her father wants some time to talk to her about the remainder of the trip and about the consequences of some of the nobles backing out of her engagement celebration."

"I hope it's not that bad, most of the families are still willing to see and house us so it shouldn't be that bad right?"

Freed looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered. "Well according to my research it's essential that the majority of the nobles approve of this engagement. Even though the union isn't dependent on their approval the happiness of the country could be at stake. Nobles could refuse to trade with other nobles, riots could occur, the usual signs of unrest."

"Well I'm sure they'll figure it out, we have yet to have anyone move against the monarchy I doubt it will start now. Plus it's not like they disapprove of the union, they're just afraid of an attack at their estates and one of their family members getting hurt in the crossfire." Patting Freed's shoulder I walked towards my horse to unsaddle her.

"What was that about?" Ever asked nodding towards Freed.

"Oh, I'm going to ride with him and start my rune training." I said with a shrug while unbuckling the saddle.

"Haha, good luck it took us all ages to learn the simplest of runes. Hey why don't you call out one of your spirits while you're with Freed that way you can work on the duration of your summons; _at least then today won't be a complete waste of training._"

"What was that last part?"

"Nothing." She said with an innocent look.

Shrugging I re-buckled the saddle and thought of which spirit would annoy Ever the most. Even though I had asked I knew what she had said, her comment didn't do anything to damper my excitement over this training because I had been wanting to learn about runes ever since Fantasia and now that I finally got the chance I wasn't going to mess it up.

Thinking of the perfect spirit I pulled his key free. "Gate of the Goat! Capricorn!"

"How may I be of assistance Lucy?"

"Hi Capricorn, can you please accompany Ever as we travel to the Konzern?"

"Of course, I've been wanting to talk to her about her diet." He said, his mind already wandering to what he was going to lecture her on.

Hiding my laugh with a cough I mumbled some sort of good day and smirked at Ever's horrified expression.

Rushing away I made it back to the luggage cart that Freed was in when I stumbled over a particularly large rock. Closing my eyes I let out a squeal as I threw my hands out in front of me to catch myself. Grunting at the impacts and the slight twinge of pain I felt as rocks dug into my palms and knees I let out a relieved sigh that no one was here to see my failure.

"Have you always been this clumsy?" An amused voice asked.

Groaning at my luck I turned to find the last person I wanted to witness my fall. Blinking up at Laxus I stuck my tongue out at him and accepted his hand to get up. "No, but I wasn't looking where I was going because I was trying to get away from Ever before she killed me." I said dusting myself off.

Turning to look over at Ever, Laxus groaned as he took in Capricorn who was already talking Ever's ear off. "You know she was riding with me. Now you're torturing the both of us."

"Haha… opps. Sorry, why don't you ride with Bickslow, that way there are two people at each post?"

In answer he pointedly looked over at the Seith mage who was brazenly flirting with one of Hisui's maids. Although he wasn't completely comfortable with how people reacted to him constantly wearing the grate over his face I knew that, that maid -Gina- had been eyeballing Bickslow since our first day at the resort and didn't mind the mask. Glad that she had finally gotten the courage to talk to him I giggled as I watched him shamelessly flirt, apparently Gina hadn't been the only one who was instrested. Since we were on a mission I knew that nothing would come from his flirting and that he would be completely focused on our surroundings as we traveled, but watching and hearing Bickslow flirt wasn't something Laxus wanted to be subjected to for several hours. But I was still happy for him, _maybe something would come of it after the wedding. _i mused with a smile

"Ahh… well you could always join Freed and I." I offered when Laxus nudged me.

Instead of answering me he moved closer to me and invaded my space. Cupping my cheek he brought his face closer to mine and whispered. "What will it take for me to convince you to postpone your training and keep me company?"

"Ummm…nothing?" I answered breathlessly.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, kissing my cheek.

"Hey Lucy are-" Freed said poking his head out of the wagon. "Oh… never mind."

"Ahh, sorry Freed I'll be right there." I said pushing away from Laxus and taking a step back. Waiting for Freed to go back into the wagon I focused on Laxus. "Sorry Laxus I already told Freed I'd train with him during the ride, I promise I'll make it up to you later." Not giving him another chance to convince me to stay with him I hoped into the luggage cart with Freed.

"Sorry I interrupted." Freed apologized.

"That's fine, you didn't really interrupt anything." Getting comfortable on the blankets he had placed on the ground I grabbed the nearest book and looked at him. "So where do we start?"

"First you won't be needing that book." He chuckled at my excitement as he plucked the book out of my hands and gave me a different one.

"Freed… this is a tracing book…"

"I know, instead of letters there are runes. You have to become familiar with how to write each rune correctly, one misplaced stroke of your pen can change the meaning of the rune. So practice is essential. But as you write the runes I will be teaching you what each one means. Depending on how well you retain the information we can move onto the next book that has another set of runes.

"There are three sets in all. The first, which is the one in your hand, contains protective runes, the second set has summoning runes, and the third set has destructive runes. I am having you learn the protective ones first so you can set up your own rune walls as you practice the other two sets."

"Makes sense."

"…no complaints? Wow Ever wouldn't shut up about wanting to learn the destructive runes. I had to threaten to stop teaching her if she didn't stop complaining."

"Is that why she said it took her ages to learn them?"

"No, it really does take forever to completely remember all of them. But as long as you have the essential ones memorized we can move on to parts of the other sets. But if you want to learn the entirety of set two and three then you need to learn all of set one."

Nodding I opened the book to the first page, determined to complete the whole thing. As I traced over each of the runes Freed pointed out each one and had me write down what they meant. Tracing over the runes was easy enough, but when I tried writing them on my own I always got some portion of it wrong and had to start over again.

How Levy taught herself how to do this without Freed's help I had no idea but it made me admire her even more than I already had despite the fight we were currently having. At that thought I paused, realizing that for the past four hours I hadn't thought about my drama, any of it.

"I don't understand why you're smiling; you're doing it all wrong." Freed sighed, looking down at my paperwork with a shake of his head as he corrected the my runes with the proper ones, the red ink of his pen making it obvious I had no idea what I was doing.

"Oh I know." I said, continuing to smile at him. "I was just thinking that I hadn't thought of anything else except runes since we started and how nice it's been." Impulsively I leaned over the open books and enveloped him in a friendly hug. "Thank you."

He hesitated when I first hugged him as if he weren't used to being hugged, but once he realized I wasn't letting go right away he returned it. It was a nice hug, very comforting; it reminded me of Natsu and Gray who I missed terribly, even though we had only been separated for a week. If I had my way I'd never let go, but the wagon was slowing down and soon we would have to help check the perimeter of yet another hotel, so I reluctantly broke the hug and smiled at Freed. "Thanks, I needed that hug."

Stacking the books in order of height I closed my notebook and stuffed it in my pack just as we came to a complete stop.

"Anytime Lucy." He said returning my smile as he put his books away in his own order. Shaking my head at him while he handled his books I opened the curtains to reveal Laxus. Taking my hand he helped me down from the carriage

"Lucy!" Hisui yelled from her carriage in the middle of procession. Reluctantly breaking both eye and hand contact with Laxus I jogged up to her and followed her into the hotel and then to her room. "Tomorrow we're going to your ex-betrothed's aka your family mansion. Is that going to be a problem?" She asked looking at me for any sort of reaction.

"No, not at all, especially since Laxus will be there, maybe he'll actually understand that I'm not available and never will be for him." I shuddered remembering the last time I saw him; it hadn't been that long ago, either. My last trip to the storage facility I had moved all of my stuff in once I had become aware of his plans to move into the mansion permanently, was a hair's width away from the property line. Every time I showed up, even if it was a last minute decision, he was there waiting in front to greet me, always asking when I was going to come to my senses about our relationship and each time I tried my best to ignore him. But the more I ignored him the angrier he got, going so far as to grab my arm as I tried to walk past him. The last time I had seen him he had gripped my arm so tightly that he'd left a bruise. Gajeel had been livid at the sight of it and demanded to know what had happened, knowing what he would have done I didn't tell him so I shrugged it off, hoping he would drop it but he didn't. He hounded me until I'd had enough of it and agreed to go on that week long job with my team before I'd decided to break up with him.

"...Lucy. Lucy." Hisui said softly, while gently shaking my shoulder. "Lucy are you alright?"

"Yeah... Sorry I was thinking about the last time I saw him. He gives me the creeps but I can handle it." I smiled shaking off my earlier musings as best I could but something from my last encounter with him stuck with me.

"If you're sure..." Hisui said looking at me strangely before we got the go ahead to enter her room for the night. Entering the spacious suite I stopped myself from whining when I saw the seamstress and ladies in waiting, waiting to help us pick out our outfits for our two days of torture.

We spent an hour picking out three outfits for each day. I had been shown countless beautiful dresses in my favorite colors but I chose the ugliest ones they had. Why they had dresses the same color as vomit was beyond me, but they were perfect and hopefully would discourage Adrian from trying to pursue me.

Taking my chosen dresses into the hotel room that I was sharing with Ever I hung them up in the closet knowing that Virgo would pick them up later to fix them to my specifications.

"You are a terrible friend Lucy Heartfilia!" Ever huffed as she slammed the hotel door. "Capricorn did nothing but talk about how I should change my diet. Did you know that eating too many fruits is bad for you; something about too many natural sugars or whatever. I will eat as much fruit as I damn well please! Thank Mavis you closed his gate after an hour otherwise I'd have killed him."

"Ah, I know how you feel, but you've only experienced it once, I get a lecture almost every time I summon him."

"Well remind me to not annoy you again because I don't think I can go through that again." She laughed throwing herself onto the bed closest to the window.

"Yeah, well you were right. It's going to take forever for me to learn all of the runes."

"Haha, told you."

"Shut it." I laughed jumping onto the bed next to her.

"What are you going to do the rest of the day? Spend some time with Laxus?" She joked wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"Ahh no. I just want to cuddle up somewhere and read my book." Pulling out my book from my pack I plopped down on my own bed and snuggled into my pillows until I got comfortable. Sighing in contentment I opened up my book.

Before I could read more than the cover page there were a series of loud knocks on our door that woke Ever up from her nap and prevented me from reading.

"Let's go Cosplayer, its training time." Bickslow called from the hallway.

"Coming!" I called reluctantly putting my book away.

I knew I had agreed to be trained by the Thunder God Tribe but I just wanted to find a secluded corner and curl up to my book and relax, but when Bickslow bounded up to me with his babies in tow cheering about their time to train me I tossed my book into my bag and followed after the five of them with a smile on my face.

"You know you can train with him later." Evergreen yawned having seen my disappointed look when I had put my book back in my bag.

"I know, but you all are taking time out of your day to train me so whenever you guys are available I am too." I said with a shrug. Stepping into the hall way I saw Bickslow leaning against the wall watching his babies dance in front of him.

"About time Cosplayer."

"It took me less than a minute to get out here."

Shrugging he began walking down the hall towards the stair well. Picking up my speed I caught up with him and laughed as his babies floated around the two of us.

Distracted by his babies I lost sight of Bickslow, calling out to him in the stair well I cursed when he didn't respond and I didn't see him.

"Such language for the light of Fairy Tail." Bickslow chuckled from outside the hallway window. Sticking my head out of the open window I had over looked, I looked up and watched as he flipped off of the railing of the fire escape several stories up and landed on the ground below after landing on the lamp post below. "Your turn." He said with his tongue hanging out, when he saw my incredulous expression.

"There is no way in hell..." Were my last words before his babies lifted me off of the ground, flew me out of the window and hovered me over the middle of the alley several floors lower than where Bickslow had been. "Babies put me back in the hallway!" I yelled, glaring at Bickslow.

"Come on Cosplayer, jump." Bickslow encouraged, taking several steps back so he was no longer directly below me."It's easy, just jump off of them and to the lamp post, then once you're there do a flip to to the ground."

"No way, I'll break something!"

"I won't let that happen, my babies will catch you before that happens."

"Catch you, catch you."

They didn't even give me a chance to jump, after a minute of indecision the babies flew out from under me and I began to fall. In shock all I did was scream and close my eyes preparing for impact. But when I never hit the ground I cracked open my eyes too see myself an inch above the ground. "Thanks babies." I said breathlessly still reeling from my unexpected fall. When I was safely on the ground Bickslow just shook his head at me in disappointment and instructed his babies to set up the next exercise.

For the first hour Bickslow was relentless, making me repeat the same drills over and over again. He was very big on safety as I flipped forwards and backward off of the various objects he had set up, but each object was surrounded by cushions so I wouldn't hurt myself when I failed to land properly. If I didn't move exactly how Bickslow instructed a many number of things could go wrong; the object I was on could tilt or sway, I could pull a muscle, I could land wrong...etc. The list of possibilities went on and on, as he lectured me each time I didn't follow one of his rules, even if it was accidental. Out of the three I never expected Bickslow to be the strictest, he was always so laid back as we traveled so how he instantly became a drill sergeant the moment we began training was shocking. Even more surprising was he didn't make me jump off of the railings after the first time, mumbling something about me not bring ready and Laxus killing him if something happened.

Honesty I thought that his acrobatic training would be easy considering I had extensive training in gymnastics and ballet while I lived with my father but this was on a whole new level. The flips were easy enough, but it was the actual landing part I had problems with; landing on a wide mat that you knew would catch you if you accidentally over shot it, or stumbled was one thing, but when you jumped off of a post and tried to land on another one with no room for error was cause for worry.

Bickslow said that most of the time that I somersaulted off of one post to the next that I would second guess my trajectory and freak out, ultimately missing the landing altogether. He said that I was overthinking, and I had to agree. When I had done gymnastics, my mind cleared of everything besides the routine I had painstakingly memorized. It was as if I was in autopilot because the moment my feet hit the mat and my routine was over everything would come rushing back and I could barely recall doing the routine. I needed to relearn how to be that trusting of my movements again before I could do what Bickslow did, and even then I don't think I would want to jump off of a fireplace for fun like he did.

By the time he had given me permission to stop, and began helping his babies clean up it was well into the night and I was extremely sore. Areas of my body that had never been sore before were screaming in pain as I made my way back to the hotel room for a nice long soak in the tub. If I wanted to be able to ride my horse tomorrow I would be needing at least two hours of soaking in the tub. Taking the elevator instead of the stairs I leaned against one of the walls and sighed, already feeling my eyes droop in exhaustion. When the doors opened on my floor I reluctantly straightened up and went to my room. Groaning I opened my door to reveal Laxus sleeping on my bed and Ever in hers. Not caring that he was on my bed I made a beeline towards the bathroom, grabbing my night gown as I did.

Stepping into the bathroom I stopped to stare at the steamed up mirror and the steaming bath that was in front of me.

"I knew that you'd need a long soak to prevent major soreness in the morning so I got it ready for you." Laxus mumbled, stretching in my bed and then sitting up to look at me.

Wicked thoughts ran through my head when I registered what he was wearing...or wasn't wearing. He was wearing a pair of loose black shorts and was shirtless. Knowing how late it was I assumed it was what he usually wore to bed but why he was dressed like that in here was beyond me.

"I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you did this, but why are you dressed like that in here?" I asked, feeling my face heat up.

"To sleep of course." He chuckled standing up to pull back to covers of _my _bed.

"Yes, but this is mine, I mean mine and Ever's room. Why aren't you in yours?"

"I'm sleeping with you." Shrugging he walked up to me. "You don't expect me to be alright with the five minutes we spent together before you went on a training spree did you?"

"Yes?" I asked, unsure of how I was supposed to take this whole situation.

"Wrong. I'm not some clingy fool but I do want to spend some time with the person I'm dating." Giving me a quick peck on my forehead he turned me around and pushed me the rest of the way into the bathroom. "Go soak woman then come to bed." He ordered closing the door before I could protest.

_He missed me... We hadn't seen each other for twelve hours and he missed me, and openly admits it. Wow._ I thought stripping and stepping into the separate shower. Washing myself as fast as I could while still being thorough I scrubbed away all of the dirt and sweat off of my skin and out of my hair. Minutes later I was done and quickly entered the bath to relax. _Ahhhhh. This is nice, I can feel my muscles relaxing already. I wonder what kind of bubbles these are._ I mused completely submerging myself for several seconds before coming up for air and resting.

_I still can't get over the fact that Laxus did this for me. Knowing how early we had gotten up today I expected him to be fast asleep, but instead it looks as if he stayed up and waited until he had known I was done training before he set up the bath. He even remembered the bubbles! How amazing was that? _

_In the past week Laxus had shown more concern, interest and caring than I had seen from Gajeel during the four months we were together. If anything I got more from Gajeel when we were just friends, it was strange. But no matter how good Laxus treated me I knew that I couldn't make a decision, not yet anyways. The break up was still fresh on my mind and so was Gajeel, I missed him. Even if he didn't show it often I knew he cared for me a lot, and it was possible that he really did love me but was it too late?  
_

Thinking of Gajeel I got sad, remembering the hurt I had seen on his face when I broke up with him and when I had seen him at Akane Resort. The last thing I wanted to d was hurt him, but it was time for me to start thinking about my happiness and I didn't know if he could be apart of that. Luckily I had at least a month more to think on everything before I would have to make a decision regarding him.

**Laxus POV**

It had been an hour since I had closed the door on her, and about 45 minutes since I heard any movement from her. Guessing that she had fallen asleep in the tub I knocked softly on the door and called out to her, receiving no answer I cracked the door open to see that I was right and that she was asleep. Knowing she would be pissed off at me in the morning if I were to go in there and get her dressed for bed I woke up Ever instead.

"Ever wake up." I said shaking her.

"Go 'way Laxus." She mumbled swatting my hands away and tucking her head under the blanket.

"Ever I need you to help Lucy get dressed."

"She can dress herself, no go away."

"She just got done with training with Bickslow."

Groaning, because she knew how much of a hard head Bickslow was when training she threw the covers off of her and stood up. Glaring at me she raised a brow in question, pointing to the bathroom I waited for her to call on me to carry Lucy to bed. Five minutes later after a lot of cursing, grumbling and groaning Ever walked out and slipped back into bed and fell asleep. Shaking my head at how quickly she could fall asleep I walked back into the bathroom to find Lucy already asleep on the toilet leaning precariously on her knees. Slipping a hand beneath her knees and one behind her back I cradled her in my arms as I walked her to bed. As soon as I set her down she groaned in pleasure and cuddled up to her pillow. Once I had her all tucked in I went around the bed and joined her. Throwing one arm around her middle I dragged her towards me so her back met my front and I was spooning her. "'night Lucy." I mumbled before falling asleep.

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**AN: So there it is! Did you love it or hate it? Let me know with a review please.**

**Wow there were a ton of reviews for chapter 12! Thank you! I love you all and am sincerely sorry that you had to wait so long! **

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**NothingButSecrets: Haha no Bickslow can't steal her for himself I'm pretty sure he wouldn't survive long with two Dragon Slayers after him. lol**

**rrrrRANDOMmm: Yeah I'm loving Laxus right now, but I just wrote the majority of chapter 15 or 16 (not sure yet cause I haven't written 14 yet lol) anyways I wrote it and with what came to me I can successfully make this fic end in favor of Laxus or Gajeel! Yay! **

**Daddy's little crazy bitch: Yay yay yay :P**

**Cow-Lover2214: Very true, Laxus is not going to mess up this opportunity to win Lucy's heart. **

**Jessica Phantomhive: Haha join the club I'm pretty sure a lot of people aren't sure who they want Lucy to end up with. ;)**

**leoslady4ever: Haha it may be a LaLu. ;) I love all of those pairings too especially Gajucy!  
**

**GemNika: Yeah it did help but then life decided to throw me a curve ball and make me sick to the point of not being able to write. :( **

**Secret Companion: Yay! I introduced you to one of the main great Lucy pairings! There are so many more you should give a shot, they are all wonderful!**

**Veraozao: Thanks!**

**kurahieiritr JIO: Sorry this chapter took a whole month to get posted! But i'm back and have already started writing another chapter, not the next one of course because that would be too easy. lol **

**Anyways thanks for the suggestions I will look into it! I do want to do more training scenes but I don't know if the story will allow it, it's not looking like it if I stick with part I have just written for chapter 15 or 16. **

**If I were to make up a reason why Laxus didn't make a move earlier I would think it was because he was afraid that she didn't forgive him and his team for what they had done when they first met; turning her to stone, making her friends fight each other etc. But once he found out that she didn't hold it against them, like she didn't with Gajeel, that's when he knew that he could actually have a shot with her depending on her state of mind. **

**GingerLily01: I'm glad you love it! Sorry it took so long for me to update! I am really hoping you never have to wait this long again!**

**kamy4: Haha, no promises yet as to if it will be a LaLu or not. But yeah, he is way more deserving of Lucy right now, but the heart wants what it wants and no one can change it's decision. **

**FunCat: Thanks, I'm sad that you can't follow but I understand. :) **

**nicole142mb: :) **

**demonicKitsune2: Haha, yeah it does seem like that doesn't it? **

**Guest: I most definitely am planning on continuing the fic, I've just hit a bump in the road that is called life but I finally passed it so updates should resume to weekly/everyother week as before. **


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thanks for all of your patience, I really appreciate it. :) **

**Sorry for any mistakes I missed, this was a really long chapter and I may have missed a few. **

**Here is the long awaited chapter. **

**Hope you all enjoy it. **

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**Natsu POV**

"Natsuuuu! I don't think Lucy would like it that you're going through her desk!" Happy said happily munching on one of the many fishes Lucy had left in the fridge.

"I know but I want to read her book while she's gone, I was just getting to the good part when she took it away from me last." Opening up the bottom drawer, I flipped through all of the paper and dropped them back in when I didn't find the manuscript. "Dang it!" I muttered kicking her desk in frustration.

When my foot connected with the side of the desk I heard a crack and looked on in horror as the side I had kicked splintered into pieces causing the desk to fall to the ground. The impact of the fall popped open a hidden panel on the side of it. Fist pumping when I saw the familiar title page I yanked the manuscript out of the space and jumped onto the bed to read it. _Lucy really did have the most comfortable bed. _I thought flipping through the pages looking for the last page I had read.

"Natsu! Natsu! Look at these!" Happy yelled with his mouth full of fish. Flying onto the bed with a handful of papers in his paws, he waved the papers in front of my face.

Waving away the papers I continued reading. "Not now Happy, I'm reading this book right now, I'll start that one after I'm done." I said distractedly

"But Natsu!" He whined. When I refused to pay attention to him Happy snatched the book out of my hands and tossed it across the room. "You need to read these now!" He said shoving them into my face again.

"Hey!" I yelled trying to push him away. "Fine." I said seeing that he wasn't going to leave me alone so I could read. Grabbing the papers from him I glanced over the first page before I sat up abruptly and intently read every word.

**May X784**

**Dear Lucy,**

**You looked ravishing today, my love. Even though you wear all of that inappropriate clothing I can still picture you in that fuchsia ball gown you wore the last time we danced. The entire night was ours and I know you felt the same spark I did. I understand why you ran; we were young, we weren't ready for marriage but I'm ready now and I couldn't imagine my life without you. I'll be seeing you soon.**

**Love your betrothed,**

**A.**

**June X784**

**My Dear, **

**Where have you gone? It's been weeks since you and the most rowdy guild members got onto that tiny boat they call a yacht. I tried to send my people to look for you but there was no sign of the guild's island. **

**A.**

**July X791**

**My Love, **

**That team of yours is an unruly sort, completely unfit for you to be around. When we are married I will hire nothing but the best guards for your protection - non mages of course. In fact I have already found several perfect candidates and am having them interviewed by my head of staff before I meet them. Just to be safe, and to weed out the crazies.**

**Your loving betrothed,**

**A.**

**July X791**

**YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON ME WITH THAT OVER GROWN METAL MOUTH. ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED. **

**A.**

**July X791**

**My love, **

**I saw you crying after you read my last letter and I understand how sorry you are. Almost as sorry as I am for speaking to you that way. I just love you so much it hurts to see you with someone else, but I understand. It is lonely without you here and the whores have been boring me as of late.  
**

**Once we are together it will be just the two of us, no need for anyone else. Until then I will be counting the days until we are reunited. **

**Your true love, **

**A. **

The rest of the notes were similar, this A person would be telling Lucy how much he loved her one minute then degrading her the next. But the scary part was that he would describe what Lucy was wearing or had been doing in great detail. Some of the letters were crumpled, and then later smoothed out, while others had tear stains smearing the words, and making it illegible. Each letter was dated and it looked like she had been receiving them since before she joined Fairy Tail.

Every word I read made me sick and angry. H_ow could we not have noticed someone following her and watching her every movement? I promised I would protect her, but I failed. _I thought crinkling the letters in my hand as my fist clenched.

"How could she not tell us?" Happy sniffled, handing me the last of the letters that we had seen earlier that were laying on the floor in front of her door. They were still in envelopes, unopened.

"I don't know buddy." I said tearing open the last two letters.

**My Love, **

**Your mission was far too long. Once we're together there will be no need to work, you will have everything you could ever dream of, far more than that Dragon Slayer could ever give you, and even more than what Jude was able to provide. You will live as my queen without the taint of magic, you have been surrounded by. **

**Love, **

**A**

**Lucy, **

**Soon my love we will be together I have arranged our new home to perfection and all I have to do now is wait for your arrival. Who knew your own guild would send you to me? Can't wait to see you!**

**A**

Unlike the others the last two weren't dated but by the contents I could tell that they had been sent recently, like when we had just gotten back to Fairy Tail from our week long job. If this meant what I thought it meant then Lucy was in trouble.

"What do we do Natsu?" Happy asked, resting on my head.

"We have to tell Master, Lucy could be walking into a trap. How this psycho knows where her mission is taking her and we don't is insane." I said getting up and collecting all of the letters and jumping out of her bedroom window.

Catching me as I fell Happy flew us to the guild using his max speed. Two minutes later we were there, not wanting to slow down Happy flew me into the guild and up to the Master's office before he put me down.

"Natsu, you should knock." Erza scolded, getting to her feet from the chair across from Master's.

Ignoring her chastising I shoved the papers at Makarov's chest and paced. "We found these in Lucy's apartment! How could she keep these a secret from us! The writer is clearly mental, we need to go to her and warn her. Where is she now?!" I demanded.

Makarov was silent as he read the letters with Erza reading them over his shoulder. Both of them grew extremely pale as they flipped through the letters.

"Where is she?" I repeated growing impatient with them, and anxious to see Lucy. It had been weeks since I had seen her and I hated it, I wanted my best friend back.

"Umm well you see... we uhh... we don't know where she is exactly." Master stuttered before ducking behind Erza.

"What!? How do you not know where she is?"

"That's why I'm in here Natsu. Late last night we received a call from Laxus saying that Lucy had gone missing and no one had seen her since the night before. They thought maybe she had come back here or was with Gajeel but she isn't." Erza said sadly.

"That's crazy! Lucy would never leave a job unfinished!" I yelled, pulling at my hair in frustration.

"We know that, that's why we're discussing what we should do and where to look. These letters will be a great help, Natsu. For once your snooping around was beneficial, thank you." Master said. Turning to his giant lacrima screen that was on the wall behind him he called Laxus.

"Gramps you find out anything?" Laxus asked before the picture was finished registering on the screen.

"Yeah we may have but don't know who yet. It is most assuredly a kidnapping. Natsu found a dozen or so letters in her apartment. Apparently she has had a stalker for sometime and failed to mention it. The letters are pretty disturbing and creepily detailed and are all from someone who refers to himself as 'A'."

"A... gramps, hold up one of the letters would you?" Laxus asked. When he saw the letter he began cursing and yelling to the others.

"Laxus my boy do you know who has taken her?"

"Yeah it's that pain in the ass Adrian, the spoiled brat that her father wanted her to marry before she ran away. We just saw him last night for dinner. I thought she had been acting weird when we saw him but I let it go when she said it was because the douche had redecorated her entire childhood home. Damn it!" Laxus said turning away from us for a minute.

"That's alright, we will send someone over there to give her a hand and you guys continue on with your mission, you all can't leave the Princesses." Master said.

"Can't all leave, yeah you're right. Gotta go." Laxus rushed off the lacrima, ending the call as he turned to talk to his team.

"I'm going now." I said walking out of the door without waiting for a response.

"Gray go with hi-Gray? Where did Gray go Mira." Erza yelled looking around for the ice mage.

"With Gajeel, he followed him when he suddenly ran out of the guild a few minutes ago." Shrugging Mira returned her attention back to the kitchen to finish up her orders.

"Happy lets go!" I shouted jumping off of the balcony.

"Aye sir!" He said catching me before I could hit the ground and barreling out of the guild doors just as fast as we had entered. As soon as we got out of the guild I growled when I caught a hold of Gajeel and Gray's scent that led to the train station. _Gajeel must have over heard our conversation with Master. _I thought. Although I didn't want him around Lucy, I knew that we would find her faster if we had two Dragon Slayers searching for her instead of one.

"Come on Happy, lets beat them to the Heartfilia estate." Instead of a response I felt Happy's speed increase until everything we passed became a blur.

* * *

**-12 hours earlier- **

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**Lucy POV**

"Tell me why you have to go again." Loke demanded, not even bothering to stop his pissed off and concerned pacing as I sat patiently still while one of Hisui's maids did my hair and make-up.

"Oh Loke, I don't want to go any more than you don't want me to go but I gave my word when I agreed to do this job with the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus, and nothing will get me to break my word." I said watching him through the vanity mirror. Seeing him throw his arms in the air and growl I was thankful that someone else was on the same page as me regarding this particular visit.

"Fine, if you must do this then I will stick by your side and play the role of you loving fiancé." He said kneeling beside me and taking my left hand in his own so he could put on the ring he manifested out of his magic. Laughing at his antics I gave his hand a grateful squeeze, I needed a good laugh today before I had to endure the night that was planned for me.

"Thanks Loke, but you know that Laxus is acting as my fiancé for the duration of the trip. Everyone we've met over the past couple of weeks knows that and if I were to have a new fiancé all of a sudden our covers would be blown and we would have failed our job, which is unacceptable." I said taking off the ring he had made and handing it back to him. When the ring slowly disappeared he stood up and resumed his pacing, muttering about not letting another Dragon Slayer steal me away from him.

Laughing at him again I ignored his pacing to look at myself in the mirror to see how the maid was doing with my hair. "All done, miss." She said, holding up a small mirror behind my head so I could see the back as well.

_Perfect._ I thought happy with what she had done. It had pained me to not call out Cancer to help me get ready but he would have never gone along with my plan for how I wanted to look tonight. For this visit and the next couple of days that we would be here I didn't want to dress to impress, instead I wanted to do the exact opposite. I wanted to make myself as plain as possible. As directed the maid had put up all of my hair into a tight bun, with a simple green ribbon to match my dress that I had picked out. Remembering all of the time I was forced to spend with Adrian during the last few weeks of my stay with my father before I decided to run away, I knew how much he liked it when I wore my hair down, especially when I left a few tendrils hanging down around my face and that is why I chose this hair style.

Thanking the maid I looked over the jewelry Hisui let me

"Whoa Cosplayer what happened to you?" Bickslow said staring at me in undisguised disapproval.

"Hey what was that for?" Bickslow cried when Laxus walked up behind him and gave the back of his head a slap.

"She looks nice, although that is a horrible shade of green. I've never seen it before and that's saying something since green is sorta my color." Evergreen said tilting her head this way and that as she examined my appearance.

"I know! It's a horrible color and you didn't need to slap Bickslow, Laxus that was the reaction I was going for. I did everything I could think of to repel Adrian away from me tonight. I was thinking about using some stage makeup to put a scar across my face, but then the others would wonder how I got it, and how it healed so quickly." I mumbled, still very much considering going back into my room to do just that.

"Don't worry, I'll be enough repellent." Laxus said looking overly confident.

"Haha if only it were that easy." I laughed sadly. "As I said before he's...extremely persistent; even when I had a boyfriend he'd continue to- well let's just say he wouldn't take no for an answer." I quickly corrected myself before I said something I was still having problems adjusting to.

"What do you mean he wouldn't take no for an answer?" Laxus asked in a harsh tone.

"Nothing like what you're thinking, I promise. He's just very in my business and takes any sort of rejection as an invitation to try harder." I said soothing Laxus' worries. "You look very nice." I said changing the subject. Looking him over I was again impressed by how well Laxus cleaned up.

"You too." Laxus said stepping closer to me. Staring into his grey eyes I was unprepared when Laxus grabbed my left hand and held it in his. Without breaking eye contact he slid a ring onto the same finger Loke had done. When he saw my look of confusion he smirked. "Can't have these rich snobs thinking you're marrying beneath your status."

"Ha, what status? I gave that up the moment I ran away." Trying to pry his hands off of mine so I could see the ring he had given me so I could stared in awe at the ring. "Whe-whe-where did you find this?" I asked breathlessly, still unable to believe he had given me this particular ring.

"What you don't like it?" He said disappointingly, reaching to take it back.

"NO!" I said a little too loudly. Looking down at the ring I turned it around on my finger. "This was my mother's ring... I accidentally lost it when I was playing dress up. She was so sad when she found out I had lost it but my father bought her a bigger one to replace it. Even though she got another one I still saw her looking at the new one with a sad look. Where did you get it?"

"One of the maids pointed out that you still didn't have an engagement ring so I went into town to the only jewelry store and picked it out." He shrugged.

"I'll pay you-"

"Lucy... you look... interesting." The princess said walking up to our little gathering.

"And you look stunning as always. Are you ready for tonight?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that Lucy?" She asked giving me a knowing look.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She asked giving me a knowing look.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I said forcing myself to give her a convincing smile. Wanting to avoid any more snooping on her part I stuck my left hand in her face. "Look what Laxus found. It was my mom's, but I had lost it." This time I looked down at it with a real smile on my face as I watched it shine.

"Ex-excuse me princess we must be going now if we are going to make it to the estate on time." The foot boy said to the ground as he continued to bow.

"Yes I know, we will be out there in a minute. If my father is waiting on us please tell him that he can go ahead and I will meet him there with my friends." Mumbling so softly none of us could hear him he nodded his head and ran down the stairs to the waiting carriages. "We should go before he's forced to talk to us again; I don't think he would survive it." Hisui laughed leading us down the stairs.

Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I felt Laxus give my hand a squeeze of encouragement and let him escort me to the carriage. I knew that with him by my side I could face anything, even my worst fear.

**Laxus POV**

I could see that she was trying to hid how anxious she was when we were talking to Hisui, and at that moment I wanted to say fuck it and quit the job, but I knew that the guild, my team and Lucy wouldn't approve, and it would ruin their reputation. So I vowed to myself that I wouldn't leave her side tonight. Lacing our fingers together as we waited to arrive at the estate I tried to get her to calm down, but her heart refused to stop racing.

"Lucy, calm down. You're pale as fuck and everyone is going to know something is up. I promise I won't let that bastard near your for too long. I will dance every dance with you if that's what it takes." I said bringing her hand to my lips so I could kiss it.

"I can't seem to get my mind off of seeing him. He's the main reason I left my home in the first place, being near him may be debilitating…" She said, her heart racing even more.

Not knowing what else to do to get her to calm down and get her mind off of the asshole I would love nothing more than to electrocute, I grabbed her face and smashed our lips together. This time I wasn't gentle and took what I wanted, but if she had fought it, or didn't open her mouth willingly and began licking the seam of my lips I would have stopped. I never wanted to force her to do anything she didn't want to even if I was trying to help her. Opening my lips to her probing I sucked it into my mouth. Swinging her out of her seat and into my lap I wound my arms around her to bring her as close as possible, which wasn't close considering her dress was so big and was taking up the space between us.

Breaking the kiss for a second I stroked the stray hair away from her face. "I hate this fucking dress." I said before kissing her again, but keeping it short and sweet because I heard and felt the carriages slowing down. "Your hair got ruined, but I like it better this way."

"That's alright, I can fix it." She said kissing me on the cheek before she moved off of my lap to return to her seat. As soon as she was seated she took out several of the pins in her hair and smoothed her hair back to recapture the stray hairs with the clips. "All done." Snuggling up against my side, I felt her pulse finally slow down and was glad that my plan had worked. "Thank you Laxus, I know that you did that just to distract me."

"Partly in distraction but mainly because I wanted to." I said putting my arm around her shoulders and drawing her closer to me.

Getting out of the carriage a moment after it came to a halt I offered Lucy my hand and helped her down, ignoring the way the footman was looking at me. Tucking her arm in mine I followed the other people up the stairs and through the open double doors. All around us there were giggling girls, and guys dressed up in ruffled shirts. Hiding my laughter with a cough we split off from the majority of the guests and followed the princess to a private area that had one person waiting for us.

Greeting the princess and king shockingly fast the man walked towards us, smiling with his arms open as if expecting a hug. Feeling Lucy tense next to me I restrained myself from baring my teeth and held tightly to her hand and pulled her a little bit closer to me.

"My love, welcome! I have been waiting for your arrival for days; I expected you guys to stay here instead of some hotel and prepared the perfect room for you, your old one to be exact. No matter, you can stay there tonight." Adrian said trying to draw Lucy into a hug but I pulled her away each time he got to close.

"Adrian, a pleasure like always…" Lucy said but by the tone of her voice she meant anything but. "This is my betrothed Lance."

"Oh yes… I heard you were engaged. It's nice to meet you." The little weasel said holding out his hand to shake mine. "That's quite a ring you have there, it's a little on the small side though." He sneered looking at the small diamond and judging me.

Before I could tell him to stick it, Lucy squeezed my hand and pulled me back a bit. "It's perfect. I couldn't have picked out a better one myself." Lucy beamed down at it. Using the passing waiter as an excuse to get away from him, Lucy led us into the crowd of people. "You have to control your temper Laxus. We can't risk giving these people any more fuel for gossip."

Grunting I snatched one of the glasses of champagne and drunk it in one gulp. "Let them talk. We only have to deal with these people for a few more weeks and then it's back home we go." I said.

**Lucy POV**

For hours we danced and successfully avoided Adrian, but we were only half way done with the night and Laxus was beginning to look a little green. "Laxus, are you sure you're feeling alright... you aren't looking so good. We should take a break so you can sit down and rest." I said trying to lead him to the bench that was outside on the deck. Although he struggled he came with me in the end and plopped down on the stone bench.

"I'm fine." He muttered waving away my guiding hands.

"No you're not, you're not well. I'd say you were drunk but you've only had a few glasses of champagne." Think on it now, the same waiter served Laxus each time and popped up whenever his glass was empty. Telling Laxus to sit tight I got up and went to the door to see if I could the waiter walking around the party. Spotting him across the room I watched as one of Adrian's servants walked up to him and handed him a handful of coins before they went their separate ways. Cursing I turned around to go back to Laxus to find Adrian standing directly behind me while another one of his goons held a knife to the unconscious Laxus' throat.

"At last we can be alone." Adrian said forcing me to hug him. "I knew if he would pass out sooner or later, but he lasted longer than I expected. Come let's go for a walk in the gardens. I'm sure you're dying to see that special patch of flowers that your mother was particularly fond of.

Turning to look back at Laxus I followed him down into the gardens. "You aren't going to hurt him right?"

"As soon as we are out of their eyesight my man will leave and that brute will be left alone." Grabbing my hand he forced me to walk faster, and next to him. Tightening his hold on me when I tried to put some space between us. "I don't think so Lucy.

"For the past five months I've watched you prance around with that metal man. When you finally ended things I thought you had come to your senses, but now you're fooling around with that giant oaf of a man, embarrassing me further by pretending to be engaged to him. For years I have waited patiently for you to come back to me but that patience has run out." He said nastily backing me into the nearby hedges as he grabbed a fist full of my hair and pulled my face closer to his. Pounding my fists into him to get him to release me had no affect, it only made him angrier. Back handing me across my face he then forced me to look at him. At the insane look in his eyes I froze in fear. After all of the letters, all of the instances I felt him following me I never dreamed that he could be dangerous.

"Understand this Lucy Heartfilia, YOU. ARE. MINE." He spat out each word while closing the gap between our faces until our noses were pressed together. Yanking on my hair again he elicited a gasp of pain from me, taking advantage of my open mouth his lips descended on to mine and he shoved his tongue inside. I hated the feeling of his lips on mine, his tongue wiggling around inside, stroking the roof of my mouth in what I'm sure he thought was a seductive technique. With Laxus and Gajeel it was, but with him assaulting me it was anything but. Broken free from my frozen state I began pushing at his chest and kicking at his legs to get him away from me. When that didn't work I bit down on his tongue only to have him punch me in the stomach before he resumed kissing me, but harder this time. The combination of his revolting kiss and being hit in the stomach had me gagging, and before he knew it I was vomiting into his mouth.

Thankfully he released his grip on my hair and backed up to spit everything out. Leaning over to expel the rest of my vomit I warily watched him. Watching to make sure he wasn't going to come after me again I maneuvered myself out of the corner so I could escape if need be.

Growling in anger Adrian stood up straight, ignoring the throw up that slid down the front of his red polo shirt. "At midnight tonight you will meet me back here-."

"Like hell I will!" I yelled straightening up to return his glare.

"You will come back, or else that little guild of yours will be destroyed. Everyone you care about will die, well not everyone my men had expressed some interest in that little girl, and a few of your other friends. I might just give let them have the girls as a reward." Adrian said thoughtfully.

"You can't destroy Fairy Tail." I said confidently staring at him in defiance.

"You would like to think that wouldn't you; but you're right, personally I can't destroy it but I have the money to hire those who can. Where do you think your father got the idea to hire mages to kidnap you when you had first run away? Me. And that wasn't even my best plan, so just think if my last resort nearly killed everyone and almost wiped Fairy Tail off the face of Earthland what do you think my plan A would do. But if my threat isn't enough of an incentive look for yourself." He said pulling out a lacrima from inside his coat and held it up for me to see.

The screen flashed through dozens of different pictures of the guild from different angles. "I currently have over two hundred thugs surrounding Fairy Tail, and that's not the best part. Each one of those thugs are mages, mages that various guild members were responsible for getting them arrested, so to say that they are looking forward to the attack is an understatement. I see those wheels in your head turning and there is nothing you can do to help them other than meeting with me tonight. I am monitoring all communications and activity inside the entire estate, so there is no way for you to warn them in time." Staring at the lacrima I knew I had no other choice than to cooperate with him. "Isn't it beautiful, all it took was some salvaging of the major parts and finding a few key figures and there it is, the Jupiter cannon. At my signal, or lack of communication the cannon will be fired on your unsuspecting guild."

"Fine." I said in defeat.

"I thought you'd see it that way." I tried to avoid his reaching hand but he moved too fast. Stroking my cheek as I held in my revulsion and cried internally. "We will finally be together forever my love." He whispered into my ear.

Shuddering I took a step away from him and stuttered an excuse. "I...I have to go pack." I said lamely inching away from him, only to have pulled me back to him.

"Alone. Don't show up with those imbeciles you came with, or else." He threatened and finally let me go when I nodded.

Hurrying away I let loose the tears that had appeared when I had agreed to leave my family. Making sure to stay in the shadows and away from all of the party goers, I snuck into the kitchens to use the employee stair case. Climbing the familiar staircase I had used constantly when I lived here to escape the stifling schedule my father had forced upon me. Hearing laughter from below I froze and waited for the young couple to become completely engrossed in each other before making my way up to the second floor.

"Hey Lucy are you alright?" Freed asked trying to get a better look at my lowered face.

Not bothering to stop to chat with him I mumbled something about being tired and went directly to my bedroom and locked myself inside of it. Hearing the ticking of the clock on the wall I charged over to it and tore it down. Hitting it repeatedly against the back of the love seat I let loose all of my anger. When the clock was nothing but bits and pieces I began hysterically laughing that eventually turned into wracking sobs. Collapsing onto the floor I blankly stared at the wall.

"I knew things couldn't last forever, but I thought I had more time..." I whispered to myself.

Resigning myself to my fate I slowly got up off of the floor and walked listlessly to my bedroom to pack. Not bothering to pack any of the close that I personally owned, because I didn't want to wear anything that revealing for him, I stuffed all of the clothes Hisui had given me into my biggest suitcase.

Once everything I needed was packed I decided I couldn't stand the lingering feel and scent of Adrian on my clothes and skin. Stripping down I heard a thunk as my keys fell out of the hidden pocket. Knowing how much Loke and Virgo were trying to get to me I sent an apology through their keys and set them on top of the bed with the presents I was going to give my team.

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**AN: Again I am so sorry it's been so long since I've updated.  
**

**I hoped you enjoyed this longer than usual chapter, and that you continue to read, review, follow and favorite my fic. **

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**NothingButSecrets: I hope this wait was worth it too. If only Laxus could maim him. :( Thanks, surprisingly I have been healthy these past couple of months but as usual life has been eh. While I've been healthy my family has not been so lucky. **

**GingerLily01: :)**

**rrrrRANDOMmm: :) **

**GemNika: If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck it must be a duck... or is it? lol**

**kamy4: Thanks! In the end someone is going to get hurt, we just don't know who. :(  
**

**Secret Companion: Thanks. :3**

**nicole143mb: Sorry for the uber long wait. :/**

**TheBayMan: I'm sorry it got confusing, I tried to fix that in this chapter. Let me know if it was better or worse please. I'm glad you like it so much, I will try to keep doing what I'm doing, but at a faster pace from now on. lol :)**

**kurahieiritr JIO: I was back for such a brief moment, but hopefully this time it is for good. **

**Have I said before how much I love reading your reviews, because I really do! Thank you. :)**

**CelticHeart13: Excuses suck, and I have no excuse for this long absences, especially since this chapter was written a month ago, and I just never got around to typing it all up. **

**Haha there is no third option unfortunately lol. **

**Cow-Lover2214: Thanks. :)**

**kimmyycubb: He most definitely doesn't deserve her but the heart will want what it wants. **

**Tiernank: Haha, thanks for the two cents I appreciate any and all input. **

**leoslady4ever: If only Laxus were real, I'd be one happy camper. **

**Veraozao: I'm glad!**

**Hime Jigoku: I'm having the same problem. Maybe she can have both...? jk**

**ScarletEyexInfinit: He is pretty perfect. We will see soon which one she chooses. **

**Daddys little crazy bitch: yay yay yay! **

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**awesomegirl3362: Join the club! ;) **


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hey all! I am so sorry it took this long to update but I am happy to say that I completed my first fanfiction a couple of weeks ago and it feels great to have it done. I have been uber busy with work and school the past three months, but that will change for two weeks when I'm on spring break. I – this is very wishful thinking – but I want to at least get to the second to last chapter before school starts up again and my life becomes a giant ball of chaos. **

**Anyways I hope you all are doing well, and that you forgive me for my absence. This fic will be my priority until it is finished then I must decide if I want to write one of my many ideas for a fic. **

**Hope you all enjoy it!**

****Sorry for any mistakes I missed and remember I don't own Fairy Tail sadly.****

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**Gray POV**

"Hey Laxus." Gajeel said walking, more like stalking, quickly to the Lightning Dragon Slayer. As Laxus turned at the sound of his voice Gajeel was already drawing his back, a second later his fist landed firmly on its intended target. Even though it looked like it must have hurt, and that there was so much force behind the fist that it would have broken a regular man's jaw Laxus barely skidded backwards.

"Gajeel…" I gasped, moving to drag him away from the increasingly pissed off slayer but decided against it when Laxus roared and charged at Gajeel. Inching away from the two of them I found safety next to the team that was supposed to be watching out for Lucy and gave them a brief nod in greeting before turning back to the fight.

"You fucker, you were supposed to be watching out for her! How could you let that stalker take her? Do you have any idea how afraid of him she is, she has spent years trying to deal with it and avoid him, and you just let her waltz right into his trap!" Gajeel ranted, digging his feet into the ground as Laxus' shoulder hit his stomach. Like the other slayer he barely moved an inch. Bringing his elbow down on the blonde's head, he was able to step a few feet back. Within seconds of getting free Laxus was charging at Gajeel again, but this time Gajeel waited until the last minute to move out of the way and catch Laxus' foot with his own and sent him skidding across the gravel road.

Laxus barely had time to get onto his back before Gajeel was on him, switching between hands to punch Laxus' face. It felt like it would never stop as we watched the assault, even Freed had taken a step forward as if to help but was held back by the other two who shook their head and watched in silence. We all knew that this was about more than Lucy's kidnapping. It was about Gajeel's anger at himself for sending Lucy into the other slayers arms, about the jealousy he felt that maybe Lucy was actually moving on, and then it was about his own guilt that he wasn't here to protect her. Even Laxus knew this which is why I think he let him continue to beat him for so long without doing anything.

"You're right, I led her here, basically forced her to do this mission but you can't talk about protecting her because you failed at that too. You had her. Body, mind and soul yet you still weren't happy. You broke her heart and caused her to lose two of the people she cared about the most. So you have no right to yell at me about failing to protect her. Anybody else can, but not you." Laxus snarled, easily throwing Gajeel off of him so he could stand up.

When the blonde turned to face me I took a quick step back, bumping into Bickslow as I did so. Holding my hand up in a placating gesture I spoke. "Look Laxus, I-."

"Shut it Gray, not now. Help look at the maps with Freed for any places he might have taken her. I'm going to finish packing so Gajeel and I can see if we can track her down. While I'm gone you will take my place for the mission and call us if you find anything." Laxus demanded, walking towards the hotel entrance and slamming it shut after he passed through. His team clearly surprised with the plan ran after him, protesting.

"But Laxus do you really think it's wise-." Freed said.

"You can't leave us with the Ice Freak!" Evergreen shrieked.

"We want to help you search –." Bickslow whined.

Their voices were cut off as the door to the hotel closed once more. Hearing what sounded like a sob behind me I turned expecting Gajeel to be standing up and furious at having been tossed into a tree but instead he was still laying on the ground next to the tree staring up at the night sky.

"He's right. I'm no better than his lightning ass." He mumbled. I suspected more to himself than me. He raised his hand as if he could touch the stars and bring Lucy back to us. But after a minute his hand closed into a fist and he brought it down hard into the ground beside him, creating a small dent in the dirt. Seeing him like this, I felt no pity only anger. Stomping towards him, I picked up his pack on the way and dropped it onto his head ignoring the glare he sent my way.

"Gajeel, for once in your life focus on someone besides yourself. Go find Laxus and get all the shit you'll need and some of Lucy's clothes so when you find her she can change out of whatever clothes that bastard made her wear. While you're searching with Laxus I don't want to hear about any more fights, that is not the priority here. My friend, my sister is out there alone and scared and pissed off as hell. If you want to make up for what you did be there for her for once, find her and bring her home." I snarled, giving him my meanest look before following after the others to start looking at the maps.

**Laxus POV**

We didn't even wait for daybreak to leave. As soon as I had my shit, and an outfit for Lucy that Evergreen insisted I pack we were out of there. As we stalked out of the hotel and out of town the tension between the two of us was so thick that we both silently agreed that talking wasn't allowed.

I understood where he was coming from. But I also understood that he was mentally kicking himself in the ass. He knew he messed up from the beginning, he knew it was his fault that Lucy felt the need to escape the guild and he knew that his chances of getting her back was slim to none. What he also knew was that Lucy and I were closer than we had been before this mission. It was most likely her scent that was on me, from the dancing we did earlier, from me just being near her. If it had been a couple of dances, and if I hadn't snuck in other ways to touch her, her scent wouldn't be that potent. That revelation irked the other slayer and was a big factor in that pathetic attempt of an attack. Shaking my head at the reminder I glanced at the Iron Slayer and grunted. _Still moping. _I thought as I saw Gajeel's head bent down as we followed a faint trace of Lucy.

"How much of a head start did they get?" Gajeel said suddenly breaking the silence.

"We sent the message as soon as we found out that she wasn't in her room. Which was sometime yesterday morning, but Freed said that she told him that she was going to her room to sleep last night so they thought nothing of it. But when we went to wake her up she wasn't there and her stuff looked as if some of her clothes were missing so we asked the hotel staff if they had seen her. One of the gardeners said that he saw a blonde woman leaving late at night with a small bag, but he didn't see anyone with her. That's why we thought she had gone back to the guild. The only reason we didn't suspect Adrian is because Evergreen saw him with the princess for most of the night, and in the morning after we discovered Lucy's disappearance, he even had the nerve to come up to me and ask me where she was so he could say goodbye." I growled, remembering how much I wanted to snap his neck when he had asked about Lucy. "So at least a day's head start."

"Why didn't you walk her to her room?" Gajeel asked. I could tell he was trying not to put every ounce of blame into his question but he was failing miserably.

Sighing I rubbed the back of my neck. "I passed out. Freed said I must have drank too much because they found me in one of the sitting rooms passed out on the chair and hauled me up to my room in the middle of the night. After that they passed out in my room."

Gajeel had opened his mouth to say something else that would most likely piss me off, but I was saved by the ringing of my lacrima. Without breaking stride I whipped my pack off of my shoulder and dug out the insistent thing and answered it. "What?" I said rather forcefully.

"Laxus! Have you found anything yet?" Mira asked anxiously with several bobbing heads in the background.

"If we had I would have told you already. Stop calling Mira it's getting damned annoying." I snarled shutting the lacrima off. I had just put it back into my bag when it began ringing again. Growling in annoyance I dug it out again and answered it, this time not even trying to be civil. "Goddamnit Mira what did I just say?!"

"Uh… Laxus-sama." Freed said, gulping when he say my pissed off look. Seeing him and Gray I instantly stopped walking and went from angry to curious.

"Did you find something?" I asked impatient to know why they had called.

"Natsu checked in with us and told us that there was no sign of anyone at the Heartfilia estate, not even a lingering scent. Apparently Adrian hasn't been there in several weeks according to the staff who were ordered off the property until his return. Natsu had Happy stay at the estate in case they return and is now off to look in the neighboring towns. That's all well and good but Gray and I have been looking over the letters that the guild sent over and have found something that might be helpful.

"In almost every letter Adrian mentions getting married to Lucy, and constantly refers to himself as her betrothed or beloved. If Adrian isn't at his mansion then it's safe to assume his first order of business would be to tie Lucy to him. So Gray and I have been scouring the maps for churches around the area. Almost all of them had no connection to neither Lucy nor Adrian, except for one.

"You know how the princess is being harassed by the prince of Bosco? Well it turns out that Adrian and the prince are distant cousins and I have it under good authority that the prince is already set to wed a noble woman, which I find strange considering he is supposed to be pursuing Hisui. So I dug around and found that there is a church right on the border of Bosco, some 150 miles away and that the prince is supposed to be there in two days to attend family wedding." Freed finished, looking just as pale as Gray did, and a little green around the edges.

"But she wouldn't willingly wed him so we don't have a problem right. As long as she doesn't say 'I do' we're all good." I said while mentally figuring out how long it would take us to get there by foot. Too long was what I came up with. _We would have to take a damn train_. I shuddered at the thought.

"Actually…uh Laxus." Gray pushed Freed aside as he came into full view of the lacrima. "There is a slight problem… since Adrian is related to the prince, and since Bosco isn't as supportive about women as we are the prince can overrule her objection and allow the wedding to continue, making it perfectly legal… in both that country and ours."

Everyone was silent as Gajeel and I absorbed what they had just told us.

"So you're telling us that the bastard kidnaps Lucy, drags her into another country and then gets to force a marriage on her?" Gajeel seethed, saying exactly what I was about to. "What kind of sick country is that!?"

Ignoring Gajeel's outrage Freed took Grays place and looked even paler than before. "Uh… um. Well there is something else. Something we think may be how he got Lucy to go with him." Freed started, then stopped when I had involuntarily growled and bared my fangs. "Have you talked to Mira recently?" He paused. When I nodded my head but still looked confused he sighed. "You hung up on her didn't you?" Freed said tiredly.

"Get on with it." I growled as I nodded again.

"Theguildissurroundedbyatleasttwohundredmagesandtheysomehowgotthecannonfromthebottomofotheocean." Freed spat out too fast for anybody to understand what he said. But being used to him, and I was able to get the gist of it.

"Damn it! Have they attacked?" I roared. _Great we needed something else to worry about. _

"No, they're just waiting there, watching." Gray said. "We think that as long as Lucy doesn't resist Adrian must have promised to not attack. But don't worry about the guild, the others are already making a plan to deal with the mages and the cannon. With Master conscious this time should be a cake walk. They just have to block the lacrima signal so they can't warn Adrian what is happening."

"Tell Natsu to stop his search and that we have it from here. As long as you're sure that Bosco is where they are headed." I stopped giving Freed a pointed look and waited for him to reassure me that it was the most probable place they would be. When he nodded I nodded back and continued. "Then send him back to the guild to help the others. Knowing him he will destroy have of the mages while the rest of the guild get the other half. Gajeel and I are heading to Bosco now, send me the map and then go finish the mission with the princess. She could still be in danger, and until she is safely married we are responsible for her." Without a goodbye I ended the call and waited until the lacrima pinged when the map was delivered.

"Why are we walking towards town? Can't you just zap us there?" Gajeel asked jogging to keep up with me.

"I would if I had ever been to that god forsaken country, but there is a reason mages avoid it like the plague." I said upset with myself that I hadn't at least visited the border towns so I could transport us there and cut our traveling time significantly.

**Lucy POV**

I sighed heavily as the carriage continued on the same bumpy path we had been on for the past day. All together we had stopped for an hour, and that was just because I demanded a bathroom which they thankfully didn't have in here. My back ached, by bottom and legs were asleep, and I was grumpy from a getting no sleep. _How could I when every rock we rolled over had me flying in the air._ I frowned. _At least Adrian isn't in here with me._ I thought. When I had asked where he was and when he would be joining me the guards had told me that Adrian was taking the train to our destination, and that this carriage was supposed to be 'punishment' for avoiding him for so long. I scoffed at that.

When I had managed to nod off for a few hours and woke up to the sound of the guards talking up front I feigned sleep and listened.

"Why did the Capitan have to pick us for this babysitting job? Especially while Stu gets to take the fucking train to Bosco." The guard I had deemed 'Big Red' because of his massive red beard, and because he refused to tell me his name, grumbled.

_BOSCO?! What about the estate? What could possibly be in Bosco!? _I thought.

"It's because you do nothing but complain about your job, and to our employers no less! You need to learn to be thankful for our job and the shit ton of money that we make protecting the snooty rich people. It could be worse, we could actually have to fight mages, or deal with criminals." The other guard, Atom responded.

Out of the two guards Atom was nicer, he made sure I had fresh water, food and even offered to let me sit up front with him, but I declined knowing that once I was outside of this carriage I wouldn't want to go back in it.

"But all of the assignments we get are the worst jobs. Last time we had to sleep in the barn, and had to pretend to be gardeners while Stu and the other guys actually got to attend the party." Big Red continued to whine.

Hearing Big Red grunt in pain I assumed that Atom had hit him upside the head as I had seen him do many times before.

"Shut up. I don't want to wake up the girl." Atom growled.

After that they fell into silence.

_Bosco… what could possibl- THE PRINCE! How could I have forgotten? Mavis help me, I won't be able to say no. I won't be able to escape. I'll be trapped to Adrian forever if we never leave that country, because the only way to get a divorce there was by permission from the royal family and knowing them they wouldn't listen to me, or any woman for that matter. _I silently banged my head against the bench. _Who would have thought that Adrian actually had a good plan when he came to me? And with the others in harm's way forcing me to comply with his wishes, and with no way they could know where I am, or where I'm going I was doomed. _I stared out of the slit in the curtain watching the stars twinkle in the sky. _At least everyone will be safe._ I thought as tears streamed down the sides of my face onto my hair and the bench of the carriage.

**Adrian POV**

"Everything is good boss, the mages at the guild haven't seen any suspicious activity and the two with the carriage are a days out from their destination." Ashton, the Capitan of the guards I had hired said, as he took a seat across from me.

"Good, in two days' time I will be wed and you all will be paid handsomely." I said smiling to no one in particular.

_And once we are wed Lucy dear you will never be able to escape me again._

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**AN: So what did you think?! I might be a little rusty with this story but I'll get into the groove of things soon. ****J****Please let me know what you thought. **

**Thank you. **

**Cow-Lover2214: They are on their way to finding her! Haha I like the thought of Lucy being his princess. **

**kurahieiritr JIO: I hadn't decided on making him a stalker but I thought it would be a nice twist and the letters just popped up in my mind. **

**silentlyfallen: Doesn't everyone? I know I do lol. **

**Veraozao: Thanks! **

**GemNika: Looking at this fic now I have no idea how I thought this was only going to be a three shot. Lol. I'm glad I decided to make it a full blown story. I hope this chapter explained why he and the others didn't put it together earlier!**

**jazzykitty76: Killing is frowned upon in the guild, otherwise I would promise he'd die. But who knows? Accidents do happen. ;) **

**SuperPsycoNutcase: Sorry I left it there for so long!**

**Daddys little crazy bitch: Yay yay yay ;)**

**Nessa951: Thank you! And I have to agree Laxus is shmexy. **

**Secret Companion: Fairy Tail does always succeed, but the enemy usually has small victories, unfortunately. **


	16. Chapter 16

**An: Yay people are still reading this fic! I was worried that a lot of people had given up on it but I'm glad that they haven't. I'm amazed that I was able to whip out another chapter so fast… I actually had it done yesterday but I didn't have enough time to post it but ta-dah here it is! **

**I hope you all like it. **

***No promises but I will TRY to post another chapter within the next couple of days, but if not it will be up a week from today.***

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**Lucy POV**

_That is the gaudiest and ugliest dress I have ever seen! _ I thought as I stared at the dress that Adrian was holding up. It was bejeweled and feathered mess. The top was a corset that was covered in huge diamonds, I imagined if I were to wear it I wouldn't be able to bend over, let alone breathe. The bottom of the dress was a pile of feathers that the designer called a skirt, there was no shape. The two pieces looked like they had been taken from two separate dresses before they combined it for some horrible reason. _There is no way I'll ever wear that! _

"Do you like it my love?" Adrian asked, holding the dress to the side so he could look at me.

Adrian had surprised my guards and I twenty minutes ago when he appeared ahead of our carriage with a small entourage of guards following behind him. His reasoning for the surprise had been that he was too excited, and couldn't wait to be reunited with me even though we were due to arrive at one of the Prince's vacation homes in a mere three hours. "-ad no idea what dress to pick for you so I sent my mistress to pick it out for you." I must have gotten lost in my thoughts because I only caught the end of what he had said. Looking away from the dress I schooled my features so he wouldn't see my revulsion. Making some incomprehensible sound, I cautiously took it out of his hands and nearly dropped it when he let go of it, surprising me with the weight of it.

_Urgh, it's worse than I thought. Wait did he say –_

"Mistress?" I asked cautiously.

"Well you didn't expect me to not partake while you whored yourself around with those Slayer, did you?" He sneered, snatching the dress out of my hands and dropping it into the giant box it had come out of. Distractedly watching I cringed when the dress stood up right from the waist up due to the diamonds.

_No wonder… I would definitely had picked something out that was equally as ugly or worse if Laxus asked me to pick out a dress for his wife-to-be…. Wait Laxus? Where the hell did that thought come from? _I froze and stared into space trying to figure out what I had meant by that thought exactly. _Was I jealous? Of Laxus' bride I had just made up? …Yes, yes I was. _I shook my head in disbelief.

"Good." Adrian said, nodding his head, taking my head shake to be an answer to his question. "Now if you cooperate and show me what good, attentive little wife you'll be I will consider getting rid of Lucille." He said closing the box and snapping his fingers to have one of the guards begrudgingly walk over to put the box into the carriage I was forced to ride in.

"Uh, Adrian is this all necessary? We just reunited three days ago, we don't need to rush into a marriage." I said pleadingly. Hoping to get myself some more time for the Laxus and the guild to hopefully rescue me…yet again.

His pace didn't slow down, nor did his gaze as he closed the distance between us. "We are to be married in-"He looked down at his pocket watch. "Seven hours. There will be no fighting it, stalling it nor cancelling it. "You are finally mine as you should have always been. Plus you know what will happen if you resist." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Adrian please! See reason, there is no way we can marry!" I paused when I saw his face twist in anger, making him look more like his sick cousin, the Prince, who didn't understand the word 'no' when it came out of a woman's mouth. I scrambled to think of something to say before his anger could take over and he tuned me out altogether. "We…we don't even know each other! So much has changed these past years between the two of us. Wouldn't it be nice if we took some time to get to know each other before the marriage?" I said grasping at straws.

His face softened with a small smile as he reached out one of his hands to cup my cheek. I had no other choice than to allow the contact because I now had nowhere to go. I had been stepping back, and unconsciously went too far and my back was now against the side of the carriage, effectively trapping me. All I could focus on now was to keep myself from flinching from the feel of his sweaty, warm palm on my cheek. As he continued to smile at me, I managed to produce a somewhat convincing smile as I met his eyes.

"But my dear, I do know you. Maybe even better than you know yourself. Have you forgotten that I've been watching you ever since you left your father's house? Sure I lost track of you a few times, but the seven years you were trapped on that god forsaken island doesn't count because from the newspapers you have no recollection of any time passing." I shuddered at the reminder, but he didn't take offense. No the sick bastard just continued to smile. "See, you're shaking with your desire for me. You want me almost as badly as I want you. Just two days ago you would have knocked my hand away, but you've finally come to your senses and realized that we are meant for each other. I knew you just needed to sow some wild oats before you would realize that there was no one out there that was better than me. There was no possible way you would ever want those good for nothing Slayers over me. You were made for me." He said against the cheek he wasn't holding with his hand.

I was about to slip under his arm, now that he was somewhat distracted but he turned his head and captured my lips with his own when I was looking at my possible escape route from the corner of my eyes. As his lips moved against mine and his tongue traced the seams of my lips, urging me to open my mouth my eyes widened, and my hands went up to his chest to push him away. But like everything else I had said or done he took it the wrong way and thought I meant to pull him closer and wrapped his arms around me, and dragged me closer to him, forcing my arms to bend and become trapped between our bodies. While he was attacking my lips and holding me captive I glared at him, wishing I could reach his closed eyes and push them into his head.

It didn't seem to bother him one bit that I refused to open my mouth, and wasn't returning his kiss, he was too busy living in his fantasy world to notice I suspected. When he showed no sign of letting up I began to struggle, trying to get my hands loose so I could push him away. But as I did so I accidentally brushed up against him. Unfortunately my luck just kept getting worse when he took that as encouragement and tightened his hold, and brought his hands down to my bottom, squeezing and lifting me onto my tiptoes so our lower bodies were pressing together before he stepped forward to hold me against the carriage.

I gagged when I felt how excited I was, and was glad that we were out in the open with guards surrounding us. Nothing more than this would happen, at least I hoped. When he shoved me against the carriage the knob of the door dug into my back causing me to gasp and my firm seal on my lips broke. The small opening was all he needed and his tongue invaded, wiggling around in my mouth. I gagged, nearly throwing up in my mouth but unfortunately nothing came up.

With my one had free I tried to push him away but it was no use. There was no space between us, and his hips were grinding on me harder the more I struggled. I was about to resort to hair pulling when I felt his tongue trace my teeth and came up with something else. Biting down as hard as I could when he went back to 'caressing' the roof of my mouth I watched as his eyes snapped open and smiled inside at his grunt of pain. I didn't let up until I felt his hands release me, and start pushing away. By then blood had filled my mouth, some of it leaking between my teeth and dripping down my chin, but I didn't care.

As soon as I was free from him I released his tongue and pushed him away, and ran away from him. I didn't go as far as I wanted because the guards were still around us, with their backs to us but I knew that they had seen it all unfold. When I turned to look at Adrian after putting as much distance between us as I could I watched as he lifted his head and glared at me, one of his hands covering his mouth and then coming away to show blood coating his hand. At first he looked hurt that I had attacked him.

_Pshh, as if I wanted to be mauled by him. _ I thought missing how his face twisted into blind rage. Holding his gaze I smirked then spat his blood from my mouth before using the back of my hand to wipe away the blood that had escaped my mouth. _So much for acting like I was amenable to the prospect of the wedding. _ I shrugged, running through what other ways I could stall this wedding while keeping eye contact.

I was too busy paying attention to him, to realize that something was moving behind me until it was too late. This time he was the one to smirk as a twig snapped behind me and he nodded to one of the guards.

**Gajeel POV**

_Damned train. _ I thought as it kept rocking back and forth, urging the food I had eaten an hour ago to see the light of day again. As I hurled into the car's toilet I snarled, reaching up to grab a fist full of paper towels and soak them with the running water from the sink. It was the fourth time in two hours that I had thrown up and that didn't count yesterday's or this morning's bout of sickness. _It's nothing more than what you deserve._ I said to myself, grunting as I shoved away from the porcelain bowl and sat on the ground leaning my head against the wall.

Wiping my mouth and ace with the paper towels I rid myself of some of the remaining puke and threw them in the garbage. After that I just sat there with my eyes closed thinking. _I caused this all. If I hadn't chased Lucy away, if I hadn't been the selfish ass I was, if I hadn't pursued Lucy without dealing with my feelings for Levy then this all wouldn't have happened. My bunny and I would be snuggled up somewhere in Magnolia. Damn it!_ I slammed my fist into the floor beside me and banged my head on the wall. _Why was I such an idiot?_

"Gajeel stop with the pity party and get your ass out here." Laxus said banging a fist on the door, and walking away when I grunted in acknowledgement.

Unsteadily getting to my feet I leaned heavily against the wall and opened the door, ignoring the wary glances the other passengers were giving me as I made my way back to my seat. When I plopped down onto the empty bench across from Laxus I glared at him. Other than the occasional gag, or look of discomfort the ride hadn't affected him at all.

"We're coming up on the last stop before Bosco, then we'll have to trek through the forest to get to the border. We won't have to worry about guards on our side of the border, but once we cross over there are guards that patrol the border to keep the 'undesirables' out." He grunted when he finished, his nose scrunching at the smell of my breath most likely.

Grunting in response I closed my eyes what seemed like a second before I felt the train coming to a jerky stop. The doors had barely opened when I shoved my way through all of the other passengers and sprinted out of the doors, collapsing on the nearest bench when I was free of the train. I took big gulps of air, swearing to myself I would never get in one of those things again but I knew that was a lie.

"Don't even start Lightning Bastard." I growled without opening my eyes. Even if I couldn't see him, I knew that the ass was smirking down at me enjoying my immense discomfort.

"Did you hear? The Prince will be on the border today!" Excited whispers drifted through the air. Cracking my eyes open I stared at the cluster of girls who were jumping up and down and whispering excitedly.

"I know! He's supposed to be going to his cousin's wedding." One said smugly, as if knowing that tidbit of information put her above the rest. Laxus and I both snorted.

"Cousin! I didn't know he had a cousin. Is he a prince too?"

"Oh no, just some nobleman. He wasn't born in Bosco, so he has no claim to the throne. But my brother was riding through our lands this morning and he swears he saw the prince's cousin kissing some woman." At that I sat upright, and glared at the girl who was talking to her friends. "He said that from what he saw she was a real looker. Bright blond hair and curves in all the right places, were his exact words. Of course I smacked him when he got a leering look in his eyes. But I imagine that any woman about to marry into that family would have to be beautiful to hold their attention. But to be kissing out in the open hours before the wedding? Really how whorish is that?"

Laxus and I must have growled at that, because the girls who were at least thirty feet away looked at us in horror before scuttling off to where ever they spawned from. As I watched them walk, more like run away I realized that Laxus was still growling and he was looking more pissed off by the second until the back of the bench I had been sitting on cracked until his hands.

"Laxu-" I started to say that he needed to chill out but he whipped his head to face me and glared, shutting me up.

Following him as he stomped to the opening in the woods a block or two away I glared at the ground. I couldn't wait to beat that fucker into the ground. I was angry, angrier than I had been when I attacked Laxus days ago, but Laxus, at this moment, was far angrier than I was. Looking up I glared at his back.

_What right does he have to be so angry, Lucy is only a guild mate to him. She didn't mean as much to him as she did to me. She wasn't his heart incarnate as she was mine. _But as I thought of that I recalled all of the looks I had seen him give her when he thought no one was watching, or how he would grill Erza about a mission they had just been on, most likely checking to make sure Lucy was alright, since most of the time she didn't arrive at the guild with her team right after a mission.

As if I had the right to ask I jogged to his side and grunted to get his attention. When he spared me a glance I spoke. "What's Lucy to you? Why are you so dead set on finding her yourself?"

He paused before answering. "She's a friend."

"Bull, you've barely spoken to her since I joined the guild, she can't be that good of friend." I snapped wanting the truth.

I saw his hands tighten into fists and expected an attack, but there wasn't one as Laxus took a deep breath and released his hands. "A lot can happen in two months." Was all he said, implying that something had happened between the two of them since they had left for the job. When I questioned him further, annoying the shit out of him and myself he refused to say anything else unless it had to do with the faint trail we were following of a wagon that smelled of mold and rotten wood.

For another hour we walked in uncomfortable silence until Laxus abruptly stopped a second before I did. Both of our gazes snapped to the ground that was wet with something; it couldn't be rain because this area hadn't seen rain in months according to Freed who we had checked in with.

_Blood._ I thought a step behind Laxus as he stood above the spot. _Lucy's blood. _I snarled. Looking at the spot I was glad to see that there wasn't that much blood, just a spatter of it, but that was enough to set me into a rage. My desire to kill Adrian increased ten-fold.

When I heard the other slayer chuckle I glared at him and rose my brow. "What the hell is funny about this?" I asked pointing angrily at the blood.

"This." He said pointing at a larger amount of blood a few feet away. "She's not making it easier for the fucker and judging by the blood I say we aren't more than three hours behind them." He sprinted off before he had completed his sentence.

With a renewed sense of purpose, and hope that we weren't too late to stop the wedding I kept pace with him pushing my previous thoughts of Laxus' feelings for Lucy to the back of my mind.

**Back at Fairy Tail**

"Damn it Natsu!" Erza yelled as the Slayer was carried through the guild doors. Instead of reporting back to the guild once he had returned to town he had run off and tried to fight the mages that were just beyond the line of trees behind the training yard. As a result of his failed attempt at defeating the mages he was reduced to a bleeding, unconscious mess.

Elfman, who was carrying the slayer, placed him gently onto the nearest table so Wendy could treat him. The blue haired slayer tsked at what she saw before she held her hands an inch above Natsu and began healing him. Her hands softly glowed blue, as gashes in the skin slowly began to knit back together. When the pink haired idiot began groaning, and regaining consciousness Mira pried his mouth open so Erza could pour the sleeping drought down his throat. The drought was Wendy's idea so he wouldn't run off to face the mages without a plan.

It had been two days since the mages had appeared, silently so no one was aware of them until they were at their doorstep. Right after the shock of seeing the mages, the cannon rose out of the water, fully repaired and charged, just waiting to set off. Makarov had been running various plans across Mavis, Erza and Mira for the past two days and they had finally decided what the best plan of action was.

First order of business was to get Natsu and Gildarts back into town as they would be crucial to the plan. One of the two had returned so far but he was currently lying around useless until the others deemed it safe enough to let him wake up. The other was a few hours out. Once he showed up, Master would make his way to the cannon. From there the rest of the guild would go to their designated sectors of the town and wait for the signal to attack – the signal being Makarov engaging the robotic cannon and steering it away from the town and hopefully destroying it without getting hurt. Once the mages running the cannon were distracted everyone else would attack the hundreds of mages.

The plan would sound crazy to anyone who wasn't apart of Fairy Tail; thirty odd mages, only four that were at least S-class, against two hundred mages whose rankings were unknown. How could they possibly expect to win? Well that was easy. The mages that had unknowingly agreed to the threaten Fairy Tail didn't know that when a member of their guild, their family, was threated they could overcome all odds.

None of the Fairy Tail mages questioned the plan, none of them thought that they wouldn't succeed. They just waited impatiently for the time when they could go to the aid of their missing member.

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**An: Let me know what you thought! Please and thank you! **

**Thanks to everyone who is still following this fic, I really appreciate it! **

**GemNika: Yay you're still reading! Lol. Anyways thank you, even after all of the time that had passed your last review stuck with me and I had to reread it before writing chapter 15 because I wanted everything to make sense, so thank you! : )**

**Shortcake22: Thank you! I know that if one of my friends were in this situation I would definitely want to kick some sense into them, but like reality people sometimes make bad decisions. Lol **


	17. Chapter 17

**An: Okay… well I have to say I am even more shocked that I was able to whip this chapter out hours after I posted chapter 16. I decided to wait a bit to post it so I could have one ready just in case I didn't get the time to write another one. **

**Anyways I'm sorry for any mistakes I missed and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. : )**

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**Lucy POV**

The carriage came to a smooth stop right in front of the staircase that led to the entrance of the 'vacation home'. Said 'vacation home' was bigger than the Heartfilia mansion, at least double in size and the land surrounding it was ridiculously huge from what I had seen when we were driving up the road. Taking the hand of the footman that had opened the carriage's door I stepped down onto the smooth ground.

_Even if the guild wasn't currently being threatened there was no escape. _I thought, spinning around to take in the surrounding area. Miles in every direction that I could currently see there was nothing, no trees to hide behind, and no bushes to hide in. It was just a sea of perfectly manicured green lawn, with the occasional gravel path leading to one of the sparse servant quarters.

During my inspection of the grounds I saw the servants that lined up by the staircase fall to the ground in a practiced bow, a second later the double doors opened from within and the prince appeared. As he looked at his servants' submissive pose I took him in.

For being the middle of autumn he was surprisingly bundled up in heavy fabrics that were decorated in jewels that were bigger than the diamonds that graced my awful wedding dress. Other than his face and hands no other skin showed, but from what little skin was visible I saw that he was deathly pale. If it weren't for the fact that his chest rose with each breath, and his slow walk past his servant I would have thought he was dead. As he got closer to me I his eyes met mine and I gasped at the color.

_Now I understand why the women tend to talk about him in dreamy tones_. I thought falling deeply into the crystal blue eyes that graced his handsome face. He had tousled blond black hair that shone in the sun, making it look soft and inviting. I knew that if he had been in reach when I first saw him I probably would have reached out to touch it, but luckily he hadn't been near me. His pale skin were made to look even paler by his pink lips that were ripe for kissing, as they curved up into a cocky smirk. I knew he must have been checking me out as I had done to him, but for some reason it didn't bother me. My view of him was broken however when someone moved to stand in front of us.

When my gaze was broken I felt myself return to myself, and felt a lingering of magic surrounding me. Shocked at the presence of magic here of all places, I stared at Adrian's tense back and silently thank him for whatever he had stopped from happening.

"Cousin, you didn't tell me that your betrothed was lovelier than our dear Lucille." The prince's voice flowed in the air wrapping around me in a blanket of warmth and desire.

_What the hell is happening?! _Mentally I was freaking out, but on the outside I shivered, pretending I was cold I wrapped my arms around my stomach urging the butterflies in my stomach to calm down. _Wait… did he say Lucille? _Risking a look around Adrian I saw a blonde woman I hadn't noticed before standing beside the prince with her arms not wrapped around his right arm and her body pressed against it.

Looking from Adrian to the prince I noticed that they were engaging in a staring contest, until they both looked away at the same time. Reaching behind him Adrian gripped my arm in a punishing grip and dragged me to his side. "Yes, this is _my_ Lucy. We are grateful for your hospitality and are eager to get ready for the wedding." He said smoothly, any trace of anger or annoyance he may have felt not present in his voice.

"Of course, of course. My servants will escort you to your respective rooms. Lucille of course would love to help your wife-to-be get dressed and ready." The prince said, ignoring the outraged gasp.

"Thank you." Adrian said bowing his head. Turning to face me he quickly brought out faces together feigning a kiss. "Behave." He growled against my lips before jerking my lips to his and giving me a punishing kiss that made my teeth dip into my bottom lip until I tasted my own blood on my tongue. Some of it must have escaped my mouth because he licked my bottom lip right before breaking our kiss. Looking up I saw the warning in his eyes, and excitement at what had just happened. Abruptly he stalked up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When he passed by Lucille, the prince's…girlfriend, I assumed, I saw his hand sneak out and palm her butt briefly before he disappeared inside the mini castle.

_Okay… now I'm really confused. _

"Miss…miss." A soft voice came from my right. Looking over I found a servant whose head was bowed and whose hands were gripped tightly behind her back. "Miss, if you will follow me I will take you to your chambers." She said barely above a whisper.

"Alright." Was all I said, because I couldn't wait to get away from the prince, and all of the haughty looks of the noblemen that stood behind at his back. Skittering around the prince and noblemen I mumbled my thanks and followed after the servant. I didn't have time to take in the interior because the servant walked too quickly and I didn't want to get lost, so I followed after her just as quickly.

Slipping into a room on the third floor, I closed the doors with the servant and turned the lock. Resting my forehead on the locked door I sighed in relief.

"Uh…Miss. Miss Lucille is supposed to be joining us." She said timidly, stepping away from me as she did so.

"I'd rather her not." I said walking away from the door. "Do you think you will be able to help me get ready? I'll tell the prince that it was my idea, and I forced you to stay so you won't get into any trouble." I pleased.

"Begging your pardon miss, bu-"

"Please! That witch of a woman picked the most awful dress for me, and I'll need all of the help I can get to change it before I have to go back down there." I said giving her my puppy dog eyes that usually worked on Mira when I was in desperate need of a smoothie at the guild. When she still looked like she would refuse me I looked around the room until I saw the dress box and sprinted to it. Tearing off the lid I hauled the dress out. "See. This is what I'm forced to wear."

I laughed when her eyes got comically wide and one of her hands covered to mouth in hopes of hiding the horrified gasp. "Oh dear." She mumbled into her palm.

"So you'll help me?"

"I don't know how much help I'll be but I will try…Miss." She hurriedly said the last word, looking back at the ground.

"Lucy, it's just Lucy. What's your name?" I asked trying to show her that I meant no harm.

"Uh… Abigail, Miss." She whispered keeping her gaze firmly on the floor.

"Okay Abigail, could you point out the bathroom please, I've needed to go for the past three hours. And once I'm done I'll hope into the shower and scrub off the dirt from the journey. While I do that, if you want to start on the dress I have no objection to that. Oh and just pretend to not be in here when Lucille comes knocking." I said rushing to the door she pointed to. "Thank you!"

"…uh, I thought we could use the silk sheets to start from scratch. That dress is a lost cause if you ask me." She said shyly smiling at me.

"Perfect, I don't know what we would have done with that feather skirt, but it nothing could have fixed it, that's for sure." I grinned at her, tying the robe tighter as I looked at what she had done so far with the sheets. Nodding in approval I dragged a chair to the table that held the feathered mess and began ripping the seams of the jewels and placed them into my lap as I picked them off.

While we worked we ignored several knocks at the door, laughing quietly when Lucille would walk off in a huff.

_At least I won't look like a giant bird when I get married… _Looking away from my work I stared out of the window. _Laxus I hope you're alright, and that the drug Adrian used on you had no side effects._ That was my foremost thought, but the others took over when I thought of the Dragon Slayer.

_Laxus will be here in time to stop the wedding. He'll beat Adrian and take me back home._ It was more of a wish than a thought, but either way it did what it was supposed to and took my mind off of the bleak future that life had in store for me.

**-3 hours later-**

"Finished!" I said tiredly, setting down the needle and thread on the table and smoothing the fabric on my lap. Standing up once Abigail withdrew her hands from my hair I held up the dress and smiled. Quickly going behind the dressing screen in the room I threw my robe to the ground and unzipped the dress so I could step into it.

The silky dress caressed my skin as I slid it on. Stepping around the screen I spun in a circle and did a pose that had Abby giggling behind her hand. Walking experimentally to the full length mirror, I was relieved to see that we hadn't made the train so long that I could get caught up in it. It only trailed behind me a foot or so. Looking into the mirror I smoothed a hand down my side enjoying how the silvery, white fabric looked, especially with the diamond belt that I had made that was just below my breasts. In the center of the belt the biggest diamond sat sparkling in the light. Compared to the last dress it was plain, but that was what I liked the most about it. Other than the belt there was no other embellishments. Even the off shoulder straps were simply made from the silk, but I had ruffled them slightly. As I looked at each part of the dress a hand had wandered over said part.

Looking lower I admired how the silk layers laid, swishing around my legs. I had planned on putting the smallest diamonds randomly around the skirt, but when I saw Abby staring at them in wonder I had sewed a pouch out of the left over silk and placed all of the left over diamonds in there before stuffing it into her hands. She had protested of course, but I insisted that she keep them. She would need them for when she started over, far away from here.

While I had taken over the sewing she had diligently done my hair; first straightening the crimps out of it that were from me putting my hair up after my shower, and then she had put it up into a half bun leaving plenty tendrils laying against my neck and brushing the tops of my shoulders. Once they were arranged how she wanted it she had curled the loose into loose curls that bounced every time I moved my head. As she worked she talked. She talked about her friends here at the mini castle, her life before becoming a servant – albeit somewhat briefly – then she had talked about the prince and what he was like.

Before today I would have said that Adrian won the award for the worst man out there, which was even after considering all of the people I had encountered on my many jobs from the guild. But from what she told me the prince, Nathaniel, was hands down the worst man ever.

Magic was forbidden here, mainly because centuries ago the king and his family had, had no trace of it. So out of jealousy he had banned it, giving anyone permission to hang a mage if they were found. Thankfully after all of this time the sentence for practicing magic was a little more lenient, but not ideal. A practicing mage had two options, lifelong servitude with anti-magic bracelets or death. It's safe to say that everyone chose servitude.

The prince known to be quite a ladies man, was a mage. Abby told me. When I turned to look to see if she was joking I saw how serious she was, and how scared she was. Every servant here knew about his powers, and that was only because they had been on the wrong side of them. Male attendants were 'persuaded' to bring their wives and daughters over to 'visit' with the prince whenever he wanted. No one was sure what happened during those visits because the woman usually didn't remember but they were given a tidy sum to take home with them. Even though they didn't know what happened during the day visits, the servants knew what happened when one of the women disappeared for a couple of days and returned with tear stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

The desire I had felt when I had made eye contact with the prince had made sense after Abby told me what had been happening here. The more she spoke of the prince's escapades the angrier I got, until I had bolted for the door having every intention of tearing both of his heads off. But Abby had blocked the door with her body, quietly pleading with me to be quite and calm down. None of that worked – apparently Natsu's rage had rubbed off on me after all of this time. When I had finally removed her from my path, gently of course, she had told me that if anything happened to the prince every servant here would be killed. Reluctantly I had returned to my sewing, fuming and taking my anger out on my dress.

When I asked why they never left since they weren't mages – she had told me as much – she explained that anytime one of them left they were blacklisted and couldn't find work, forcing them to return. As she spoke I noticed that she always referred to the other servants being controlled, but never herself. In answer she had pulled up her dress and showed me two black anklets. Abby wasn't native to here, apparently her parents and her had been traveling in the neighboring town across the border when she got lost and then kidnapped, and then forced to work here forever.

Luckily for her, the anklets didn't get rid of her resistance to magical persuasion so she had been able to escape the prince's attention.

If it hadn't been for the danger to my guild, I would have dealt with the prince, consequences be damned and freed everyone from his reign. But I was as helpless as them at the moment, especially when I had left my keys in the suitcase I had left with the others. So I had to make another plan for Abby.

When Laxus came for me, because I had convinced myself that he would come, I would have him take Abby and whoever he could get out of her away. Far away.

"Lucy…Lucy." Abigail said placing a hand on my shoulder, jerking me out of my thoughts. "We have you get you downstairs, the wedding should begin in thirty minutes." She whispered sadly. She had hoped, as I had, that Laxus would be here by now to stop this whole farce. But four hours after our arrival he still hadn't shown up.

At the reminder of why I was wearing the dress, every ounce of admiration of the dress left me and I scowled down at it.

"You go ahead." I said stiffly. "I'll meet you down there." Stuffing my feet into the white heels we had found I stood still as Abby placed the veil on my head. Giving her a small smile I wiped the tear from her cheek and watched her walk to the door.

I walked to the window and stared out at the never ending lawn, but not really seeing it. Instead I pictured my friend's happy faces and smiled sadly. _Dang it, I don't want to do this, but if it ensures everyone's safety then I have to._

"Lucy, open the door." Nathaniel's voice called through the door. I tried to cover my ears to block him out but it didn't work. "Lucy my dear, let me in." He called again, urging his compulsion on me.

I felt my legs begin to move against my will, bringing me closer to the door to do his bidding. Unable to stop myself I tried to hold on to something, but everything I grabbed was just dragged along.

"Wha-what are you doing?" I asked horrified at what was happening and what would happen if he made it into the room.

"I only want to welcome you to the family." He said, a hint of laughter and something else in his voice. "I promise you'll enjoy it. Just think of all of the fun we will have now that you're living her-."

"What the hell are you doing Nate?" I heard Adrian growl right as my hand had unlocked the door.

The distraction couldn't have come at a better time. Pulling my hand away from the door after I locked it I held it against my chest and ran to the bathroom that was in the furthest corner from the door.

_I can't imagine living with him, living with this for the rest of my life. I hated having my free will taken away from me. It was only made worse by the fact that I was fully aware of what I was doing but had absolutely no control. No way of stopping it. _

Rubbing my arms to rid myself of the goosebumps that covered my arms I looked around the bathroom for something that might block out his voice if he tried again. Seeing nothing I wadded up some toilet paper and stuffed it in my ears. It wasn't perfect, but their once clear shouts from the hallway were now muffled so I couldn't hear what they were saying anymore. When their voices quieted down and eventually stopped I stood still, listening for either one of them for a minute. Hearing nothing I opened the bathroom door and gasped. Adrian was standing next to the table looking at the scraps from the other dress and what once had been sheets.

He looked pissed at first as he turned around but when he got a good look at me his scowl turned into a smile. Striding towards me he placed his hands on my waist and looked me over from top to bottom.

"Exquisite my love. Although did you have to ruin that dress? It cost me a fortune." He said chidingly.

Breaking away from him I cautiously looked around the room, half expecting his cousin to pop out.

"He's gone downstairs to blow off some steam with Lucille before the wedding… not that we have that much time, but he's the prince and the show mustn't start without him." Seeing my questioning gaze he continued. "He has always enjoyed the game of taking what's mine. From former mistresses to pets even some of my tutors. But he won't have you, not matter his 'gift' you are mine, and mine alone." He finished angrily claiming my waist painfully.

To prove his point to himself he forced his lips on mine and urged me backwards to where the bed was.

I don't know if I was freaked out by the prospect of having to deal with Nathaniel, and possible his power but I suddenly couldn't go through with this wedding.

Thinking quickly I spun him around and returned his kiss. When his knees met the bed he sat down and pulled me on to his lap. Pushing him down so he was laying on his back I met his eyes and smiled seductively. Slowly I pulled the belt free from my dress and threw it above his head. Motioning him to scoot further onto the bed I stood over him for a moment until he was in the perfect position. Crawling up him I grabbed the scraps of silk that were left on the bed and straddled his chest.

Smirking at me his hands ran under my dress caressing my legs until he got dangerously close to my core. Shaking my head at him as I smiled I grabbed both of his hands from my legs and pinned them above his head.

"Not yet." I whispered.

Surprisingly he stilled and let me hold both of his hands in one of mine. Using his eagerness to my advantage I leaned forward as if to kiss him, but while he was distractedly looking at my lips I tied his hands together and then to the bed frame before he knew what was happening; something Virgo had taught me ages ago.

Before he could do more than gasp in outrage I stuffed the scraps of material in his mouth to prevent him from making any more noise.

Climbing off of him I ran to the table and found several long strips to tie his legs. Even though I sat on his legs it wasn't easy to get his legs restrained. During the struggle I took a knee to my cheek, and a knee to my ribs. Working through the pain I was eventually able to tie his legs to the bed posts. When I was done I stood at the foot of the bed and met his furious eyes.

"What's that? I couldn't quite hear you." I teased when he tried to speak around the gag.

Going to the bedroom door I pressed my ear against it and listened. Hearing nothing I opened it and stepped outside, firmly closing the door behind me.

_Freedom. _I thought turning walking down the hall cautiously. When I passed by a semi open door I saw someone through the crack.

"Cra-!" I began to say, but a familiar hand reached out and covered my mouth and my eyes grew even wider.

Looking next to the slayer I saw a smirking Lucille standing next to him. "Good you got rid of that hideous dress, I didn't want to have to wear that on my wedding day." She said confusing me even more.

"Looks like you didn't need rescuing after all." The familiar voice said chuckling. As happy as I was to know that someone had come to get me, it hadn't been the person I was hoping for.

"Gajeel? Wha-how are you here?" I hissed. "What about the guild? The attack? Is everyone alrigh-." He covered my mouth again.

"Not now Bunny. I need you to go back in there and release the prick from whatever trap you caught him in. Make up some bullshit excuse 'bout wedding jitters or some shit like that. The important thing is that he leaves the room and goes downstairs." Gajeel said, eyeing me.

"Gamhmm" My words were muffled by his palm. Removing his hand he gave me an apologetic look and took a step back. Seeing how serious he was and how close his hold on his rage was about to snap I did as he said. Taking a deep breath at the door I waited until I felt crocodile tears streaming down my face and ran into the room. Sobbing out an apology I ran to Adrian and gave him a slobbery kiss. The anger he had been stewing in turned to confusion when I drew away. Still sobbing I loosened the belt that held his hands and locked myself into the bathroom.

"Lucy!" He yelled, pounding the door when he was free. When I didn't answer I heard him growl and then curse. "If you aren't downstairs in ten minutes I'm tearing down that door and dragging you downstairs."

I sighed when I heard him slam the door as he left and waited for Gajeel to come in with Lucille.

"Bunny." My ex called.

"Gajeel! What the hell?" I whispered enough for him to hear me.

"I'll explain as you change." He said nodding to Lucille, and Abby beside him.

Together the two of them dragged me behind the screen helping me undress and undo my hair.

"Lucille there is taking your place. If this plan goes off without a hitch there is nothing the bastard can do without looking even more foolish. During the wedding a distraction will be made that will get him to rush things and not look too closely at who is in front of him. By the time he realizes we should be long gone." He said smugly.

Looking at Lucille who was slidding into my dress while Abby quickly did something with her hair I felt a twinge of guilt.

"Is this what you want?" I asked the woman.

"Once I marry Adrian, as I should have years ago his cousin will grow tired of me hopefully and stay away. So yes this is what I want. It helps that I love Adrian." She said glaring at me.

Walking out from behind the screen I joined Gajeel. "Sounds like a perfect plan. But what happens if he finds out too soon?"

"He won't." Gajeel said cockily.

"What about the guild th-." I began to ask.

"They're fine. They dealt with the danger as they always do, and over half of them were on a rampage to find you but I let them know that a plan was already in place to get you out of the wedding. Damn convenient that his mistress is blonde, named Lucille and looks like you from a distance." Gajeel grinned, showing all of his teeth.

"I'm not leaving without Abby and the rest of the staff." I said, knowing it might make things impossible.

"Already working on it. Once the staff is done setting up the wedding, they are supposed to disappear until the reception. By then the servants and their families will be long gone. Same with us." Glancing at Lucille through the veil, he grunted that it was good enough and shoved her outside of the room. Following her out she went one way, while we went the other.

"The servant stairs?" I asked, guessing where we were going. When he nodded I grabbed Abby's hand in reassurance and held onto so we wouldn't be separated.

Quietly we crept down the stairs. Escaping a castle was easier than expected, especially when there was a Dragon Slayer with you who could hear every little noise around us.

It wasn't until we were safely on horses and half way down the driveway did I realize that I hadn't seen a single guard. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Taken care of." He grunted, jerking his head towards the barn.

Nodding in approval I focused on the horses and getting as far away from here as possible.

_Laxus…where are you? _

**The wedding. **

The sound of the wedding march filled the backyard as everyone stood up from their seats and turned to the double glass doors as they swung open revealing the bride. All of the guests gasped at the simplicity of the dress, and whispered to their neighbors disappointed. This was the prince's cousin's wedding, everything else had been extravagant, why not the bride's dress?

While everyone continued to whisper the bride and groom had locked eyes and were smiling broadly. The groom seeing the outline of the smile, and hint of pearly white teeth behind the veil chuckled in his head, thinking that he was right about her wanting him. Everything and everyone ceased to exist to him. His earlier anger that Lucille had disappeared an hour before the wedding, making him go without his relief, was forgotten. Same with the anger he felt towards his cousin for touching his mistress, and for forcing his magic onto Lucy earlier.

When his bride was close enough to Adrian he took a step forward and took her offered hand. Escorting her to stand in front of the priest that was under the prince's payroll he tightened his hold on Lucy's hand.

"Dearly beloved, we are here to join this woman and this man in holy matrimony. Filled with love and devotion they declare themselves to each other, finally completing the covenant that bound them together at birth seventeen years ago. If there is anyone present who thinks that these two should not be wed please speak now or forever hold your piece." At the opening words Adrian braced for Lucy to make some objection, but when none came he relaxed and rubbed his thumb over her delicate hand. So distracted was he that he missed the ring that adorned one of the fingers, a ring that he had given to someone other than Lucy.

"Do you both pledge to share your lives with one another and respect and obey one another? Do you promise to care for each other in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death do you part?"

"We do" Adrian said, but when he didn't hear Lucy say the same he dug his nails into her hand. How dare sh- "For the love of god what is that?" Adrian said spinning around to face the hound house, where all of the dogs were now running around wildly, barking at a large man that was striding towards the wedding. Pulling into his side he wrapped his arm around her waist and growled at the priest. "Marry us. Now!"

No one was paying attention to the ceremony now, they were instead running into the mini castle screaming as they did so.

Clearing his throat, and giving a worried glance towards the dogs the priest continued. "Do you Adrian- "

"I DO." Adrian snarled, interrupting the priest. Nodding the priest moved on, turning to face the bride.

"Do you Lu-"

"I do." The feminine voice whispered, just loud enough for the priest to hear.

Before the priest can tell them to exchange rings, they have already done it and Adrian is tapping his foot waiting for the next part, glaring at the poor man in robes.

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may… kiss the bride." The last of the words were mumbled as Adrian impatiently lifted the veil high enough to reveal red lips. Slamming his mouth onto her lips he was surprised to feel her respond and took the opportunity to hold her close and enjoy their first kiss as man and wife.

"Um… excuse me you need to sign these before its binding." The prince said smirking as he held out the marriage certificate. Distractedly they both signed it before they began kissing again. So focused on each other they didn't notice that the dogs had quieted and the mystery man had disappeared.

They broke contact with each other when the prince wheezed and then started laughing hysterically. Adrian looked at his cousin in annoyance. "What's so damn funny?"

"You…haha…wrong…bride. HAHAHA." The prince responded shoving the certificate into his chest.

Quickly reading over the paper Adrian grew pale, and dropped the certificate so he could yank the veil off of his wife. When he saw who was behind it, he bellowed in rage.

"Surprise lover." Lucille said, stepping up to him to place her lips onto his lips in a brief kiss as she smirked.

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**An: Soooo what did you think?  
**

**Thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, read and reviewed. I appreciate every bit of support. **

**GraceSkyla: :)**

**awesomegirl3362: Thank you. :) **

**GemNika: I didn't want her to become too docile. I'm glad you liked it. **

**kurahieiritr JIO: Unfortunately for them they can't attack the prince otherwise they will most likely cause trouble for all of Fiore. Royalty seems to take offense to being beaten by foreigner. Who knew? Lol. But you're right, he won't get off unscathed. Hisui will definitely not take the kidnapping well. **

**SuperPsycoNutcase: One reunion down, one more to go. **

**MistrissAva: Thank you! Sadly it will not be both of them, I must pick one. **


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Yay another chapter! At this rate I will be finishing this fic within the next week. :) **

**This is not the last chapter, although it could be, but I won't do that to you guys. But I do think that there are only a couple more chapters in this fic and then an epilogue. **

**Enjoy, and I'm sorry for any mistakes I missed. **

* * *

**Lucy POV**

When Gajeel said 'taken care of' when I asked about the guards at the mansion, he really meant the guards spanning from the estate to the border. Not a single guard tried to stop us. In fact we didn't come across a single soul. The town we passed through that had been full of people when Adrian and I arrived was empty except for the few stray animals in the road.

"What happened here?" I asked when we were passing through a smaller town that was just as empty as the last.

"Servant's families took off as soon as they came home. None of them felt any need to stay. All of them were freaked out by the prince, and the fact that his father isn't doing so well was just another incentive to get them moving. Don't worry, they will be far enough away with new jobs to support them." He said barely staying upright on his horse. When he stopped talking he turned an ashy color and his cheeks blew up as if he was about to throw up. Urging my horse a few feet away from his I eyed him warily.

"What about Abby?" I asked looking towards my new friend.

"Oh Lucy, don't worry about me. I'm just glad you took me with you in the first place. You have already done more than enough." She said smiling.

"Nonsense. We still have to get those things off of your ankles. Oh! I know, you can join Fairy Tail, or any other the other guilds." I said excitedly. But if the look on her face was any indication, she did not like that idea. Thinking of another alternative, I came up with one but I didn't know if she had been scared from working for nobles for the rest of her life or not. "We could always go to the princess." I said carefully.

Abby looked at me warily. _It wasn't a no at least._ I thought.

"Hisui is the complete opposite of Nathaniel, I promise. She actually cares about her people, and would never for you to do something you didn't want to, and she would never use her powers against the household, unless she needed to protect herself." I said eagerly.

"I'll think about it… but I think I'd like to travel a bit, maybe see if I can find any of my family." Abigail said sounding hopeful. I simply nodded at her, knowing how much she missed her family even after all of this time.

"That sounds good. If you need any help I'd be happy to help, so would anyone of my friends. And with the bag of diamonds I gave you, you should be able to fund your trip easily. Maybe even buy a house of your own if you decide you don't want to work for someone else for a while." She smiled at the thought.

"A house…"she said dreamily.

Letting her daydream about the possibilities she now had we continued on in silence. By the shifting of trees, I could tell that we were nearing the border and that we would soon be in Fiore. Hopefully out of the grasp of the prince and Adrian. But knowing Adrian he wouldn't take being tricked easily. In fact he would be downright pissed, but with Lucille there to soften the blow I hoped he didn't feel the need to come looking for me. Even if he did Gajeel had given her a fully charged lacrima to use in emergencies to let us know if Adrian or the prince were planning to retaliate.

That was all I had been able to get out of Gajeel before he became too sick to speak anymore. When I suggested a rest, he mumbled that we couldn't until we crossed the border. Something about meeting up with the idiot. The idiot, when coming from Gajeel could refer to a lot of people, but I couldn't ask for certain who was waiting for us.

Twenty minutes later we had crossed the invisible border, but we waited until we had passed the border town to make camp within an empty cave.

Almost immediately Gajeel fell from the horse that looked at him in disgust before joining the others at a patch of grass across from the cave. Shaking my head at the slayer I turned him onto his side so if he threw up he wouldn't choke to death. Unable to do much more, Abby and I built a fire in the cave and unpacked the saddles of blankets and bed rolls, finding some food at the bottom. Slightly squished the sandwiches tasted wonderful and filled our empty stomachs.

A few minutes after we finished with our food, Abby passed out on the nearest bedroll from exhaustion. For someone who hadn't left that mansion in years, I bet that all of the traveling we did wore her out. Placing a blanket over her, I checked fed the fire before stepping out of the cave. Gajeel was still groaning on the ground, but I was pretty sure he was still asleep, since his breathing was pretty even and his eyes didn't open when I walked past him. But before I could walk into the forest he gave one last groan before sitting up.

"Where you goin'?" He asked while yawning.

"Just for a walk." I said avoiding his gaze. "Thank you for coming to get me Gajeel." I was about to take a step forward when I briefly felt his hand on my shoulder before he retracted it and took a step away from me.

"Lucy, can we talk?" He whispered behind me. I was so not ready to have _that_ talk with him, so I shook my head. "Please."

Looking back at the strangled 'please' I sighed before walking farther away from the cave so we wouldn't wake Abby up. Leaning against the trunk of a tree I faced him and waited to see what he had to say. But minutes passed and I soon realized he didn't know what else to say that hadn't already been said, so I 'manned up' so to speak and spoke first.

Looking around I cringed, briefly closing my eyes. "This isn't where I imagined doing this Gajeel. Are you sure we can't- okay fine." I sighed when his gaze hardened at my attempt to stall this talk.

"Lucy I was so worried about you when I heard that you had disappeared during a job. So I left the guild as soon as I heard, with Gray trailing behind me. The thought of being too late, I just couldn't stand it. I don't want you to be with someone else I love you." He said before rushing to me and squeezing me tight into his chest. When I didn't push him away he placed a kiss on the top of my head, and then down the side of my face until his lips found my lips.

The kiss felt wonderful as all of our kisses had. It was familiar, comfortable, but it didn't ignite the spark inside me that it once had. It just was. Either way I gave him the chance to remind me of one of the good parts of our relationship. I even started melting into him and returning the kiss. Almost. But then I remembered why we shouldn't be doing this. It wasn't just because of Laxus, at least not completely. Giving him a once last kiss I gently pushed him away. He froze, his lips hovering over mine, our bodies just an inch away from each other.

When he shook his head and leaned in to kiss me again, I firmly pushed him farther away. "Gajeel stop." I said stepping away from him, and watched as his head fell between his arms that were still pushed against the tree, surrounding the area I had just vacated. Seeing his defeated pose I felt my eyes watering, but I didn't move to stop the tears from falling.

"I know you wanted me to wait to make a decision until I returned to the guild in another month, I had every intention of doing so but I realized something when I was trapped at the mansion." His shoulders tensed and I took a deep breath knowing there was no way to say this without hurting him. I felt my mouth open and I started talking, forcing myself to watch him to see the pain I was inflicting on him. "When Adrian took me all I could think of was making sure everyone would be safe and hoping that you guys would figure out the threat and take care of it so I could get the hell out of there. But when I thought of the rescue happening I didn't think of Natsu, Gray, Erza… or you. I thought of Laxus." I whispered the slayer's name, flinching when Gajeel caught my gaze with his.

"I thought up multiple scenarios, and all of them featured him. I know logically that it could have been anyone to come get me, especially knowing Natsu's tendency to find me when even I don't know that I know where I am." Shrugging I continued. "My thought going to Laxus had me thinking of all that has happened in the past two months, and how I felt about him. I knew he cared about me, but what I didn't know until my captivity was how much I had come to care for him. Do I love him? No, it's too soon to tell, but I think given the opportunity that I could.

"What we had was nice, I loved you with everything I was, but you weren't ready for that level of commitment then. I still love you, a part of me will always love you. You were my first…well first everything and I could never forget that. But I'm not _in love _with you anymore. I don't think I have been for a while. Everything that happened during our relationship slowly killed that feeling for me. Each time I saw you with her, each time you left with her and every time you ignored me, it all added up." I said sadly.

"Luc-." He began.

"Please, let me get this all out. I know it hurts, and I don't want to hurt you but I don't want you to believe we still have a chance when we don't. Our time has come and gone. I know I can't be with you again because I would never fully trust you at least when it came to Levy. I couldn't and wouldn't want to give you every piece of me again for fear that you would do what you did before and destroy me." Stepping towards him I cupped his cheek and made him meet my eyes. Seeing the pain, and the unushered tears in his eyes I felt my heart breaking for him. "Even though I can't trust you with my heart again it's important that you know that I forgive you for everything that happened and I still care about you."

He was silent, staring at me with a blank look before he closed his eyes and those tears he had been trying to hold in spilled over. My Iron Slayer, who never cried was doing it now. I leaned my forehead on his and cried with him, for hurting him, for the end of our relationship and knowing that this would be the last time for a while that I would see him, because I knew he needed time. Time to regroup and move on so when he saw me at the guild with someone else he wouldn't go into a rage or start crying at the guild. He would still be a part of the guild, but the longest job that was available would be his the second he got back.

When he suddenly pulled me into his chest again and held me tightly in his arms I didn't try to get away, I just leaned my head on his shoulder and gripped him just as tight.

"I'm so damned sorry Lucy." He said into my hair as he guided my head to his chest. "I was a fool to not see and appreciate what I had. Even though Laxus gets on my nerves, he's a good man and I know he will take care of you. I hope you're happy with him Lucy. You deserve the best and I'm sorry that I couldn't give that to you. But I will always love you and be here if you change your mind or if he messes up."

I don't know how long we stood there in each other's arms just holding each other but it was therapeutic for both of us and I had no intention of letting him go any time soon. Unfortunately he had other ideas. Kissing my head again, but lingering a bit longer this time I heard his mumbled 'goodbye' before he stepped away from me.

Looking at him through the veil of tears cried harder as I watched him walk back to the cave. When a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind I jumped and turned around to see Laxus. He didn't say anything, just hugged me tight and let me cry on him as I once had. Exhausted mentally and physically I fell asleep while leaning on him as he smoothed a hand down my hair and whispered that everything would be alright.

I woke up a short time later to hushed voices. Keeping my eyes closed I listened quietly.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back with us? We won't be that far behind you." Laxus said.

"Yeah. I'm gonna grab Lily on the way and head back to the guild. We won't be there when you return it's better that way." Gajeel said his voice emotionless, as footsteps walked further away from me, pausing for a moment. "Take care of her." Was the last thing he said before his steps continued, and then the sound of hooves hitting the ground took over.

When I could no longer hear the horse I closed my eyes tighter and realized that I was crying again.

"Lucy." Laxus whispered laying down beside me and pulling me to his side. Again he patiently let me get it all out, and rubbed my back soothingly. It was only when my tears ended, and my hiccupping ceased that he spoke again. "Are you sure you should have made a decision this soon? You were just kidnapped, controlled by that monster of a prince and nearly married." He said concerned.

Lifting up from his chest I looked into his eyes and knew that if it truly was what I wanted he would have called Gajeel back here and handed me to him. Shaking my head I kissed him lightly on the lips and laid my head back on his chest, relaxed, and then fell back asleep.

**Laxus POV**

It killed me to question her decision, but she had been crying nonstop since I walked up to see her and Gajeel embracing one another. So when she had looked into my eyes I held back everything I was feeling, giving her the chance to change her mind without my thoughts or opinions swaying her decision. For a moment I was worried that she had changed her mind, but when she kissed me and fell back asleep I knew that she was going to give us a chance and I relaxed. Falling asleep a few seconds after her.

"What about the job?" Lucy asked, rolling up the bedroll we had slept on while I re-saddled the horses.

"Freed said that the princess got married last night as planned. At first she was disappointed that you weren't there, but when the situation was explained, well let's just say she wasn't happy. He said that the first order of business that she did right after getting married was to end trading with Bosco, and forbid any member of the royal family into either one of her countries. And like a sane man the prince didn't stop her and just ordered the guards to do as she said." I chuckled, remember how worried Freed had been to hear that trading had ceased. According to him it wouldn't hurt Fiore as much as Bosco since they were reliant on us for much of their food supply.

"Oh…well that seems drastic." She said, her eyes flashing in worry then in guilt. "Maybe I should talk to her."

"Don't worry, her husband is going to try to reason with her when her anger lessens." I said, hauling the bedrolls onto the saddles.

"But-."

"Really, it'll be fine. Let the royals deal with each other, and leave us out of it for once." Checking the straps once more I nodded and walked the horses over to Lucy's new friend. "They're both fully stocked with food for them and you. You'll want to stock up in a week or so, but by then you should have passed a few towns. Are you sure you don't want to come back with us?"

She shook her head. "I think if I were to see the guild Lucy spoke so highly about I wouldn't want to leave. This is for the best."

Saying their goodbyes, we watched Abby until we couldn't see her anymore. Looking down at the blonde, I grunted at how besotted I was. It was only made worse when she raised her head up and smiled at me.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked holding out a hand to her.

"Can we make a detour? I want to meet up with your team and get my keys out of my trunk. I've been without them for too long." She said wistfully.

"Shit I forgot." Laxus said digging into the pocket of his coat and pulling out my ring of keys. Squealing in happiness she snatched them out of my hand and hugged them to her chest.

When her fingers had grabbed the keys Loke appeared instantly, sweeping her into his arms. "Don't you ever do that again!" He scolded without breaking his hold on her. I growled at the spirit as he held my blondie. The damn lion hearing my growl just looked at me over Lucy's shoulder smirked and then winked at me as he tightened his hold. Holding back from ripping his hands from her I glared at him, but was satisfied with Lucy slapped at his arms and broke free of his hold.

"Stop that. Don't antagonize my boyfriend." She said. I could see that she was worried about what she said when she gave me a look, but I just grabbed her hand and interlaced our fingers and squeezed, telling her that I liked the title she had given me. At my reassuring gesture she smiled happily.

"Boyfriend? Tell me you haven't fallen under another Slayer's wiles again my love!" The lion said, dramatically placing his hands above his heart. Giggling Lucy shook her head and mumbled something making the spirit disappear.

When we were alone I pulled her to me. "So I'm your boyfriend am I?" I teased.

"Sorry about that, I know we haven't talked since you got here but I just assume-mmmmm." She ended in a moan when I kissed her deeply.

"Does that answer your doubts?" I asked smirking down at her. Seeing a twinkle in her eye I saw her nose scrunch as if thinking about the answer. Not wanting there to be any confusion I answered for her. "Yes Lucy, I'm yours and you're mine. I don't mind that you told your spirit, and I won't mind when we tell the entire guild. I'm not hiding you." I grunted when she hugged me tight.

"You're mine." She sighed into my chest, it was a statement but I felt the need to answer her.

"And you're mine."

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**AN: I am loving all of the reviews I am getting and want to say thank you to everyone! **

**With this chapter we finally learn who Lucy is going to end up with. I just want you all to know that I thought long and hard about this decision. Even though I love Gajucy as much as I love LaxLu I felt that Gajeel and Lucy's time together had come and gone. No one can really forget the pain that comes from heartbreak, and I think that there was too much emotional turmoil between the two of them for them to move on and live happily ever after together. And the fact that Laxus was such a wonderful, caring and attentive friend during the mission, and the fact that he was willing to give her up if she truly wanted to be with Gajeel instead of him just made him my top choice. So sorry to everyone who was rooting for Gajeel. **

**Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought! Thanks!**

**Illustre: Thanks, I have to be honest I was going to make it so they were too late to stop the wedding and then I couldn't come up with a way for her to get out of it without Adrian's death. So I'm happy with the scheming. Lol**

**Angela Annetter Dixon: Thanks! I'm glad it was still okay, I did notice it wasn't as intense as the others but I thought it was nice. **

**silentlyfallen: :)**

**GemNika: I know! I'm surprised but the chapters have just been popping up in my head. **

**SuperPsycoNutcase: No she wasn't too happy but that's because she was expecting a different Slayer. **

**kurahieiritr JIO: Haha yeah, they both are a level of crazy that compliments each other. You got your wish for Laxus ;)**

**SaffireRebel: I'm sorry Gajucy didn't win in the end, but if it makes you feel better I have a few fics in mind that they do wind up together. ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Surprise two chapters in a day! After writing this chapter I decided all that was left to write is the epilogue. So as sad as it might be this fic has nearly come to a close, making it my second chapter fic to be completed! Yay!  
**

**If you feel I am missing something, or leaving something unfinished/unexplained please let me know and I will see what I can do. **

**Enjoy!**

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**Lucy POV**

When we go to the guild it was to see half of it missing, and rubble filling most of the surviving half. I would have been worried if it hadn't been for the pink haired slayer, I called my best friend, barrel into me to give me a hug seconds after our arrival.

"LUCY!" He yelled as he hugged me tightly, lifting me off of the uneven ground. Laughing I returned his hug. In all of the time I had known him we had never been separated for this long and I had missed him desperately.

"Natsu what happened? Gajeel said you guys had this handled! Not that you destroyed the guild!" Looking around I noticed the rest of the destruction. "AND HALF OF THE TOWN!" I yelled.

"But Lucy that wasn't our fault!" He whined, setting me down on my feet, looking to the others for help. For once it looked like the destruction wasn't caused by my fire crazy friend as the others all nodded.

"It's true Lucy. Makarov wasn't able to stop all of the cannon shots and a couple of them took off the top of some buildings. And the mages didn't hold back once they realized we had already picked off half of them by the time they registered that something was wrong." Mira said, her head popping up from behind what used to be the bar. She smiled brightly at me, but her gaze wandered to over my shoulder and her smile grew.

Once Natsu had set me down Laxus had pulled me back to him, growling softly and mumbling about other men keeping their damned hand to themselves. I hadn't thought anything of it at the time but, by the look in Mira's eyes she knew exactly what it meant so it wasn't surprising when she squealed about blonde haired, blue eye babies before promptly fainting.

Her squeal in excitement didn't go unnoticed and soon we were surrounded by the guild, everyone asking how it had happened and how long we had been together. I tried to answer everyone's questions, I really did but it was so hard to get a word in that I gave up. Laxus must have sensed my frustration because in the next second he had transported us out from the middle of the guild and to the street where my apartment was thankfully still standing.

"That was…insane." I said, laughing.

"Did you expect anything less from our guild?" He grunted.

Looking at his face to see if he regretted them finding out so quickly I relaxed when I just saw annoyed amusement in his eyes. "When you put it like that then no I didn't." I smiled, I loved how crazy our guild was. I stopped smiling when I thought of a particular member of the guild. "Did you notice if Gajeel had made it back alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, he and his flying cat were there not too long ago." Laxus said looking at me strangely.

"Good, I was worried he'd run into trouble." I said happily.

"Why don't you get some rest?" He asked suddenly, stepping away from me.

"Wha-." I started.

"We have a long week ahead of us, and you still have on that other woman's clothes." He said, reminding me that I had just barely gotten out of marrying Adrian. "Take a long bath, and get some sleep. I'll be by in the morning to walk you to the guild." He distractedly kissed me on the cheek before disappearing.

I was concerned about his abrupt departure, but when I yawned I realized how tired I still was, even though we had just gotten up a few hours ago. Shrugging I entered my apartment and did as my boyfriend ordered and took a long bubble bath, and then fell face first into my bed with Plue. I had a fitful sleep, my mind still replaying the Nathaniel's control over me. But in the middle of the night I felt a warm body climb into bed with me and snuggled up to. For once I didn't mind Natsu's intrusion and was thankful for his presence because now I could get some actual sleep.

Insessint knocking at my door woke me up hours later. Groaning at the sound I moved to get up but a strong arm pulled my back into the middle of the bed, refusing to let me leave.

"Natsu let me up." I said sleepily fighting against the arm. Instead of the usual whine he gave when I wanted to leave the bed I felt the arm tighten even more and a growl that did not belong to Natsu.

"Natsu…" Laxus growled, his eyes wide open and glaring at the door across the room. "Why can't they keep their hands off of you?" He asked more to himself.

Gulping I stopped trying to get away and turned around to face him. "It doesn't mean anything, Natsu and Happy just like to pop in here every once in a while. I'll tell him he has to sleep on the couch from now on or in his own bed if that makes you feel better." I said hurriedly, not wanting him to get upset.

When his hold loosened somewhat and the murderous rage left him, I relaxed. "Good." He said kissing me briefly before laying on his back and throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the light. "It's Ever and the guys." He mumbled before falling back asleep.

Getting off of the bed I grabbed my kimono and tied it shut before answering the door.

"Good morning Lucy! And Laxus." Ever added once she saw the slayer behind me his feet nearly hanging over the end of the bed.

_Note to self; get a bigger bed. _

"Good morning Ever, Freed and Bickslow. How did you get here so quickly?" I asked stepping to the side to let them in. The instantly took over, Ever was in the kitchen trying to find…something, I wasn't sure what. Bickslow was on my couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, watching me, and Freed was at my desk, that looked suspiciously disorganized, picking up papers and reading them.

Flushing a bit, I walked to Freed and blocked him from my desk, taking all of my papers and stuffing them inside a surprisingly broken draw. _NATSU._ I growled when I found the draw broken, and food particles littering the space.

"Uh sorry, Lucy." Freed said backing away from me quickly.

I was about to tell him I wasn't mad at him but Laxus was already at my back soothing my anger. Leaning into him I took several deep breaths and promised to punish Natsu the first chance I got.

"It's not you Freed, Natsu damaged her desk." Laxus explained, probably already smelling the evidence.

"All done!" Ever said as she left the kitchen with a tray full of pancakes, syrup, fresh fruit and fruit smoothies. Setting it on the table she told everyone to dig in and we did.

I thought that having them here would be weird, since my team had really been the only ones that hung out over here but like with Laxus it just felt right. I listened as they gave a recap of the rest of the mission, the wedding, and Hisui's anger. Then when they tried to give me a portion of the reward I refused but was bulldozed by them all into accepting it.

"Lucy! You should join our team." Ever said excitedly.

"Uh…It's not that I didn't enjoy doing the job with you guys, but I can't join you. I have my own team. But we can do the occasional job together." I offered when she looked sad.

"That's good enough. Right Ever." Laxus asked pointedly looking at the fairy.

"Yeah I guess." Was her mumbled reply.

After that the week was filled with nothing but rebuilding, the guild and the town. After a particularly brutal day I got frustrated with all of the work and glares from the towns people that I called the princess and whined to her. I didn't expect her to do anything but listen to me, as friends do, but the next morning a construction crew appeared and took over our work and repaid what the guild had spent so far. Apparently the Hisui's husband suggested that Nathaniel and Adrian be made to pay for the repairs as part of their punishment instead of the trade embargo. She agreed with half of the plan and demanded the money for the repairs, and in return she would _think_ of lifting the embargo.

Once the mayor of Magnolia became aware of the situation he apologized profusely to Makarov for blaming the guild for the destruction and making them do all of the repairs ourselves. Master, as devious as he was, milked the apology for all it was worth and finagled a plot of land out of the mayor, allowing us to upgrade our guild once again.

It took another week for all repairs to be guild was the same, except for the addition of a bigger library, and a men's dorm. That was only opened to a few of the guys for now, as a test to see if they could live together without destroying it like last time. Natsu, since he had his own place wasn't allowed to move in, to his displeasure. But he quickly got over it when he realized I was finally home to cook for him again – Laxus did not take his constant invasion of my apartment well and had Freed set up runes around my apartment to keep uninvited people out.

Speaking of Laxus I looked at my boyfriend and finally asked him what had been bothering me. "Why haven't you touched me since we got back to the guild?" I asked him as he walked me home. _Did he change his mind? Did he not want me anymore?_ I mentally freaked out for the millionth time this week, while trying to appear calm on the outside. It wasn't that he was avoiding me, or hiding our relationship he had just been distant, barely kissing me, not staying over at night. Stuff like that.

He grunted uncomfortably and held up our joined hands as if to say 'I am touching you.'

"You know what I mean." I sighed.

"I was giving you space." He said.

"Space? Why were you doing that?" I asked confused.

"You were so upset after Gajee-." I cut him off by stopping in my tracks and pulling him to a stop with me.

"That was weeks ago, and that same night I thought we established that it was what I wanted. That _you_ were what I wanted." Sighing I tightened our interlaced fingers and closed the distance between us. "Thank you for thinking of me, but I am okay. I was sad because I hurt him, not because I wanted him back or was confused about my feelings for him. I am no longer in love with him. And am a hundred percent in this with you."

I barely finished my declaration when he buried his face into my neck. "Glad to hear it blondie. I didn't know how much longer I could have continued." He chuckled, peppering kisses on my neck.

Giggling I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my head to the side so he had better access to my neck. "Well next time you think I need space, can you ask me first? I've been freaking out this past week thinking you didn't want me anymore." I sighed when he sucked on the spot beneath my ear.

Pulling away from me to look at my face he scowled. "I've waited years for you Blondie, there's no way I'm letting you go now that I have you." He growled, possessively tightening his hold on me.

I grinned at him, happy to hear that. Raising up on my tip toes I kissed his lips when I heard a throat clear behind me. Sighing at the interruption I dropped back down onto my feet and turned to see who it was. Seeing Levy, I should have guessed by how tense Laxus had gotten.

She had been steadily avoiding me since our return, but a few days ago she thought it would be a good idea to come up to the Thunder God Tribe's table and sit down beside me. Before I could do anything, or say anything the others had gotten up and moved to their upstairs table, forcibly taking me with them. Since then they glared at her whenever she was near, and Ever even went so far as to tell her that she wasn't welcome at our table and that her _best friend_ \- me - didn't need backstabbing bitches hanging around. I felt bad at first, but as Laxus pointed out, she had blamed all of her troubles on me once, and he, along with the others were just worried that we would get hurt again.

Sighing again, because I knew I couldn't avoid her forever I gave Laxus an apologetic look. "I'll meet you in my apartment. I'm gonna talk to her, to see what she has to say."

"Lu-."

"I have to do this at some point. We can't avoid her forever, she is in the same guild after all." I pointed out. At his scowl I pecked his lips and pushed him towards my apartment. Watching him stalk away unhappily I smiled, and didn't turn towards Levy until he was out of sight.

"What do you want Levy?" I asked tiredly.

"Lu-chan. I'm sorry about what I said before, I know you weren't the problem in my relationship with Jet. I was just jealous about you being with Gajeel and not telling me, I thought we told each other everything."

"How can you say that when you never told me you were still hooked on Gajeel? You were always clinging to him even when you were with Jet." I growled.

"I talked to him about that when I got back from seeing you at Akane resort. Jet agreed to give me another chance, but only after I talked to Gajeel about everything, and figured out if I still had feelings for him or not – I don't by the way." She paused looking for my reaction, but all I did was look at her. "When he returned he refused to talk to me, and when he did say anything it was just to tell me to leave him the hell alone. But before we learned that you had disappeared – I'm glad you're alright, I wasn't able to tell you that before. – he agreed to talk to me, just to get me to stop pestering him.

"We talked about what we had felt about each other, how we did like each other but unconsciously we knew we weren't right for each other which is why we never went beyond a hug or two and flirting. He said that he loved you, completely and didn't want to hurt you anymore so we couldn't go on jobs together anymore, which I totally understood. But we mainly talked about how much we fucked up our own lives, causing us to lose the ones we loved, and ruin friendships." She sighed, her hands fiddling with her hair. "I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but I hope that eventually you'll be able to and we can go back to being friends again."

"Thank you for saying that to me, but you're right I can't forgive you right now, but maybe after a while longer I can." I said offering her some hope. In some ways Levy had hurt me more than Gajeel, because I had trusted her without a doubt to be there for me in any instance, whereas I was already falling out of love with Gajeel. But when she verbally attacked me at the resort and when she intentionally tried to get with Gajeel after finding out what we had been to each other I saw a side of her I didn't like, and that trust was fractured.

"…Okay." She said quietly, I think she was surprised that I didn't forgive her instantly, as I had with the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus after they attack us, and after forgiving Gajeel for kidnapping me and beating me. "Well I guess I'll see you around."

Turning around I walked up the stairs to my apartment, coming face to face with Laxus' concerned and pissed off look. "I'm fine." I said before he could assume anything or ask if I was okay. "I'm glad she apologized, but I don't think we can ever go back to how we once were. As with Gajeel I can't trust her completely again, and I'm okay with that. I have new friends, and I know that I'm happy with how things are now."

Moving into the kitchen I began preparing dinner, until he wrapped his arms around me from behind and placed his lips to my ear.

"You're so strong." He said kissing my ear. "Brave. Caring. Kind. Smart. Funny. And most importantly mine." He kissed me after each trait, causing me to giggle and melt into him. Out of everything he said I think my favorite one was that I was his because that was exactly what I wanted to be.

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**An: Shorter than the recent chapters I know, but I hope you all enjoyed it anyways. :)  
**

**Let me know what you thought, please and thank you! **

**SuperPsycoNutcase:** Nope it wasn't but I am planning on only writing the epilogue and then it will be the end. Exciting and sad at the same time.

**Tiernank: **Yay!

**Guest: :)**

**kurahieiritr JIO: **I have to agree, he was a real prick before but after he joined up again he was wonderful. I love how he actually cares about others now, and how he realizes that strength isn't just a show of power as he had originally thought. :)

You have no idea how happy I am to hear that the scene with Gajeel and Lucy worked out! At first I loved it, and then I reread it and thought that it was a just of babble, but then I realized that when I'm having a serious discussion about feelings I tend to babble so I thought it would be alright, but I didn't know if anyone else would like it. So I am uber happy you thought it went well!

Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews you have given me throughout this fic! And I hope everything in your life is going better, or at least settling down!


	20. Epilogue

**an: With this chapter I bring this story to a close. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and this fic, I love you all! I can't believe I'm done with my two chapter fics and have no story that has a chapter that needs to be written!**

**I do have several ideas for other fanfics, some for Fairy Tail, Sailor Moon and The 100. But I don't know when I'll get to them. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

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**-Five months later-**

**Lucy POV**

"…Will you marry me?" I looked on in silence, not quite sure how to react.

"No." I gasped at the answer, staring at Levy with my mouth hanging open. Everyone else echoed my shock as we watched Jet's face morph from nervous, and hopeful to devastated, and tearful. He dejectedly lowered his hand that held a ring I couldn't see and then shakily rose to his feet. Within the next breath Levy took his hands in hers and knelt down in front of him. "Oh Jet, don't act like that. We already talked about this last night." She said softly, raising his head to look into his eyes. At that answer I saw him relax a bit as he sighed tiredly.

"I thought…" He started, shrugging when he couldn't come up with the words.

"I know but I meant what I said before. I'd love nothing more than to marry you, but this – our baby can't be the reason we rush into this. There are still things we need to work on, not to mention that we have only been living together for three months. That's not nearly enough time to determine if we will get on each other's nerves or not.

"I love you, you know I do. But I want to know that you love me as much as I love you and that you trust me a hundred percent before we tie the knot. If you still want to marry me after we've had the baby then I will drag you to the nearest church as soon as possible." When Jet made a strangled noise in protest Levy smiled and shook her head. "I know that's still nine months away but by then we will know if we can handle every part of each other because let's face it, I'm going to be horrible to live with when all of the hormones kick in." They both laughed at that, before leaning into each other to kiss softly. As one, the guild sighed in relief that they hadn't broken up.

It took the guild a few minutes before they realized what Levy had said.

"YOU'RE PREGNANT?" Mira squealed, barreling down to Levy and gently taking the Soild Script Mage into her arms to hug her. She was followed closely behind by the rest of the girls, everyone besides Evergreen and I.

I chucked as I watched the two groups laughing and talking loudly. Elfman was patting Jet on the back, rather hard, while saying he was the man while the other guys congratulated him and make inappropriate jokes that occasionally had to be explained to Natsu. While the guys did their thing the girls were all seated at two tables that had been dragged together by Erza. They all talked excitedly about the gender, names, and potential powers the baby may get.

By the few questioning glances up at me I knew that the girls were wondering why I wasn't down there with them. But that was easy, I already knew about the pregnancy. A month ago Laxus had muttered something about another brat running around by the end of the year, and I had pestered him into telling me whose it was. When he said it was Levy I was happy for her and caught up to her as she left the guild to congratulate her and suggest she stay away from Natsu if she didn't want the whole guild to know quite yet. But by the look of her face she hadn't known. Luckily Laxus was following behind us, at a distance of course, because Levy's eyes rolled and she fainted. Quickly catching her, I didn't have to wait long for Laxus to catch up to us to take her out of my hands and carry her to the hospital. When she woke up a half an hour later she was babbling and crying. Worried about what she was going to do and what Jet would want to do. But as she cried I saw her make a decision; no matter what happened she was going to keep the baby.

It wasn't until then, five months after I returned to the guild from being kidnapped, that Levy and I started rebuilding our friendship. We took a day trip to the neighboring town to get prenatal vitamins, and for her to be checked out by a doctor, who said that it was too early to tell anything, but since she was a healthy young woman that complications weren't likely to arise. For the past month I had held her hand whenever she got freaked out, went to the store with her for anything she felt she needed, and stealthily hid pregnancy books behind dust jackets of books Jet would never pick up. Then last week she had told me that it was time for her to tell Jet, something I had been trying to get her to do since the beginning. I hadn't heard how the talk had gone, but now I knew why since it hadn't happened until last night.

Seeing Levy look over at me, I smiled and waved declining her invitation to join in the mass of squealing women. When she sent a silent plea for me to save her I shook my head again and grinned. She stuck her tongue out at me before answering one of the many questions she was being bombarded with.

"You too have gotten close lately." Ever said cautiously, not looking away from her nails as she filed them. Looking at her I reached over to grab the hand that held the file and squeezed it.

"Yeah we have but I remember who was there for me through everything, even though we barely knew each other. You have nothing to worry about Ever." I said reassuring her that she wouldn't be replaced, because even though Levy and I were closer than we had been in months I didn't trust her as much as Ever or Erza. Feeling a returning squeeze, I saw her smile and nod her head before releasing her hand and leaning my back onto Laxus' chest.

I felt his warm breath on my neck as he leaned forward to kiss it. "You're amazing." He said in between kisses. I hummed in agreement, only to start laughing as he tickled my sides at my cocky response. "I'm serious. You didn't have to reassure Ever, or help Levy, but you did anyways. Your just keep showing me how lucky I am to have you." As he finished speaking he turned my head to the side to capture my lips.

I moaned quietly against his lips wishing that we were back in my apartment or at his house so I could deepen the kiss. Unfortunately we weren't and I was reminded of that fact when I heard Bickslow clear his throat loudly. Sighing we broke the kiss, returning to our semi-cuddly position.

"You're no fun Bickslow." I joked.

"I can be a lot of fun Cosplayer, if you wanna get out of here I'll show y- oww!" Bickslow yelped, standing up quickly while cupping his butt. The four of us laughed, knowing exactly what had happened.

In the five months that we had been dating Laxus was just as possessive, and was completely over any sexual jokes Bickslow had to offer when it came to me. Placing my hands on top of his that were resting on my thighs I interlaced our fingers and pressed back into my unhappy boyfriend.

"He was just joking." I laughed. "Plus even if he were I'd never take him up on his offer, no offense Bickslow, you're like a brother to me now." Bickslow stabbed his chest with an imaginary dagger, pretending to be wounded at my sentiment, but I knew he felt the same sibling love for me as I did for him.

A day after Levy's announcement the guild got another surprise as our missing Dragon Slayer burst through the doors, moments after I felt Laxus stiffen up behind me.

"Really?" I murmured to Laxus without looking at him as Gajeel strode up the stairs as he followed Makarov into his office. Pulling away from Laxus so I could turn around and look at him I saw that he had donned his 'I don't feel anything mask' and looked at me impassively. Instead of saying anything I shook my head at him and got up to leave.

"Lucy." He said grabbing my arm before I could leave.

"I'm not mad Laxus, just a little disappointed. I'm going to go sit by my team for a bit." I said, seeing how his masked slipped to see that he was worried about what I was thinking. Wanting to put him at ease, at least somewhat I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before getting up and walking to the table my team sat around.

**Laxus POV**

"What was that about?" Ever asked as I felt her eyes glaring daggers at me.

"…I don't know." I said truthfully, watching Lucy throw her head back, laughing at something Natsu said.

"Well whatever it was you better find out what it is, and fix it. Lucy is going to think you don't trust her if you tense up every time her ex is around." Ever said leaning on the table.

"I agree with Ever, Laxus-sama. Gajeel and Lucy-san ended things for good and he is aware that she chose you." Freed said into his book.

"What they said." Bickslow grunted.

"They said. They said. They said." His babies mimicked from their spot on the table.

"Thanks for having my back." I said sarcastically, downing the rest of my beer as I continued to watch Lucy.

"Anytime." Bickslow laughed, getting up to order us a few more drinks.

"You're happier than you've ever been when you're with her. We just don't want you to accidentally throw it away with your possessiveness. I mean seriously how she's put up with you this long, especially when her _friends_ hug her, I have no idea. We get it, everyone gets it. She's off limits, she's yours, whatever." Ever huffed sitting up straight when I whipped my head around to look at her. When I did I saw the concern in her eyes, and the fear that I would accidentally push Lucy away with my overbearing possessiveness.

"Laxus-sama, why don't you attempt to reconcile your feelings by talking with Gajeel?" Freed suggested, still reading his book.

Thinking that, that was the best solution to my problem I stood up and stalked to my office door, leaning on it, waiting for the Iron bastard to reappear. A half an hour later I stood up straight and watched Gramps' door open and Gajeel walk out. With a jerk of my head I told him to follow me, pleased that he had listened. As the door closed behind us, and was locked I turned around to face him, only to have his fist meet my cheek and send me flying into the wall besides my desk.

"What'd you do to her?" He growled, nose flared.

"Nothing." I said moving my jaw side to side to pop it back into place.

"That flash of pain I smelled says otherwise." He said still glaring at me.

"None of your damned business." I said walking towards him. "She's not your concern anymore."

When he lashed out at me again I was prepared. Dodging his fist, and subsequent kick I stepped behind him and kicked his one leg out from under him, sending him crashing into the ground. Flipping him over with my foot I held him there with a foot to his chest.

"Lucy is of no concern to you, other than a guild mate. You won't try to win her back, she made her choice already and doesn't need to worry about your damned feelings anymore." I said levelly until he started laughing.

"Gihihihi, is that what this is about? You're worried I'll go after her again?" He said staring up at me. Cautiously removing my boot from his chest I took a step back and offered him a hand up. He looked at my hand as if I'd shock him but he took it all the same, looking shocked when I didn't zap him. "Bunn-." He stopped when I growled at the nickname. "Bunny and I talked about this, as long as she is happy I'm happy for her. Do I wish that she hadn't chosen your sparky ass over me? Yes. But I fucked up, and scared her away.

"You're gonna have to get used to Bunny and I talking, cause we're going to be '_friends'._" He said sadly. "And I'm not going anywhere for some time, so you're stuck with me."

"You won't -."

"Weren't you listening? I won't be making any moves, but if you fuck up all bets are off." He said smugly as he walked, more like limped, to the door.

"If you do anything…" I left the threat open cause I knew he understood what I meant when he scoffed before slamming out of the door.

A few minutes later after a shot or two of whiskey I stepped out of my office and joined my team. They all gave me a look, asking if everything had been settled. When I nodded they resumed what they had been doing; Bickslow watching his babies, Freed reading, and Ever pretending not to stare at Elfman.

At the sound of someone walking towards the guild doors I looked down to see my girlfriend walking out with Gajeel. Unintentionally growling, I followed after them to knock Gajeel around, but stopped short of the door when I heard Lucy's laughter.

"haha, I can't believe you did that thank you! I'll pay you back every scent when I can get to a bank." She said happily.

"Consider it a present." Gajeel said gruffly.

"But -."

"It's the least I can do Bunny." He said softly.

"If you're sure." Lucy said uncertainly. When the Iron Slayer grunted Lucy sighed. "Thank you. I'm glad she found a place and her family."

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow Bunny Girl." He said reverting back to his old nickname.

"Yeah tomorrow. And Gajeel, I'm glad you're back, you belong here…with all of your family and friends." Lucy said before I heard her footsteps coming to the door I was standing in front of. When the door only opened a crack I heard her voice floating inside more clearly. "I'm going home Laxus I'll see you to-."

I didn't let her finish as I opened the door all of the way and stared at her. "Let's go to my house." I said not giving her a choice as I took her hand in mine. If she had protested I would have let her go but she didn't so we walked to the outskirts of town to my house. Letting ourselves in I threw my keys on the table she insisted I needed, which it turns out I did, and sat heavily on the couch. When she sat across from me on the coffee table I saw her fiddling with the bottom of her dress, something she only did when she didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry. I… I don't want to lose you." I said lamely watching her.

"You're not going to lose me Laxus, unless you're the one to walk away." She said looking up to me and smiling. "You're not going to walk away right?" She asked me as she walked to me before swinging one leg over mine to straddle me. Sitting down on my lap she hooked her hands around my neck and rested her forehead on mine. Placing my hands on her legs and squeezing. I meant it. I wasn't going to leave her. If I had any say in the matter she would be mine forever. But I hadn't told her that because I wanted to give her more time to get used to me, to us.

"Never." I growled.

"Well then if I'm not going anywhere, and you're not going anywhere what's the problem?" She asked separating our heads to look at me.

"Nothing…now. Gajeel and I had a little talk..." I winced recalling the punch to my jaw. "…and we understand each other now." _More like I threatened to rip him apart limb by limb if he ever tried to take you away from me. _I thought knowing Lucy wouldn't be happy about that.

"You...talked…" She said, drawing out each word. Nodding I watched her bow her head forward to rest on my chest and shook her head. Sighing deeply she took a minute before looking into my eyes again. "By 'talked'…" she made air quotes with her fingers. "…you mean to tell me that you threatened him, correct? Which is why you flinched a little when I touched your jaw earlier and why Gajeel looked like he was limping when he left the guild. Did you fight – no wait, I don't want to know. But just so you know everything can't be solved by fighting."

"This was." I said simply. Sometimes she was too smart, linking, what anybody else would think was unconnected events to draw the right conclusion. Seeing her cute nose scrunch up in disgust and unhappiness I knew that she wasn't too mad about what had happened. She understood, unwillingly, that this was going to happen eventually. I was just glad it fixed the problem instead of making things worse.

"Well… if you say so." She said unconvinced before turning serious again. "But seriously, Gaj-Laxus you have nothing to worry about, you know that right?" She giggled, her serious tone and face cracking half-way through her sentence.

I growled at her playfully holding onto her legs as she tried to stand up to escape. Leaning forward, since my hands were occupied at the moment I bit her neck gently and held onto it as she shuddered.

"Laxus." She said breathlessly, ceasing her struggles and wrapping her arms around my neck again. Smirking I released her neck and proceeded to kiss her as I stood up from the couch. Automatically her legs wrapped around me, causing me to pick up the pace. If we had been at her place we would have made it to the bed within a second, but we weren't damn it. Instead we had gone to my house for once, where my bedroom was the furthest room from the living room. When we finally reached my room I kicked the door open and rushed in, ignoring how the door slammed against the wall and then latched shut as it bounced back.

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**An: So what did you think? I wanted to go beyond 5 months after but my brain wasn't coming up with anything to write about, sorry. But who knows i might do another chapter later on, if I get an idea. NO PROMISES.  
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**vamplady019: OMG! I absolutely love that song, thank you for telling me about it! It is totally Gajeel. :) Thank you so much for reading it and I am glad you loved it! :D**

**kurahieiritr JIO: You would think after all of the reviews i've responded from you that I would learn how to spell your username by now lol.**

**Haha checking the mail before bed is always dangerous, you never know if a fic is going to ruin your attempt at sleep :) **

**I'm glad that life is turning around for you and I can't wait to start reading your fics. :) I will definitely keep in touch. **

**Veraozao: I'm glad. :D**


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